Supreme Court grants divorce on ground of desertion, orders Rs. 30 lakh alimony payment
Justices Abhay S Oka & Ujjal Bhuyan [08-07-2024]

Read Order: X v. Y [SC- CIVIL APPEAL NO. 7210 OF 2024]

LE Correspondent

New Delhi, July 9, 2024: The Supreme Court allowed the appeal of a husband seeking divorce from his wife on the ground of desertion, dissolving the marriage between the appellant-husband (X) and respondent-wife (Y) under Section 13(1)(ib) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955. The Court, however, clarified that the divorce decree will come into effect only after the husband pays Rs. 30 lakhs as a one-time lump sum alimony in a full and final settlement to the wife.

The couple got married in March 1999 and had two children. However, matrimonial discord started in 2006, leading to the husband filing a petition for restitution of conjugal rights in 2008. In May 2013, the trial court passed a decree directing the wife to join the husband's company within 3 months. The wife's appeal against this was dismissed by the high court in 2015. Subsequently, in August 2016, the family court granted the husband a divorce decree on grounds of cruelty and desertion, as the wife failed to comply with the restitution of conjugal rights decree. The wife challenged this in the high court, which set aside the divorce decree in October 2019.

In the present appeal before the Supreme Court, the bench noted that the couple has been living separately since 2008 and efforts at mediation and settlement failed. It held that the high court erred in setting aside the divorce decree on the ground of desertion, as the wife admittedly never resumed cohabitation even after the restitution decree was confirmed in 2015.

The top court said this is a case of complete breakdown of marriage for over 16 years. However, the Supreme Court partly allowed the appeal by upholding the divorce only on the ground of desertion under Section 13(1)(ib). It clarified that the divorce decree will come into effect only after the husband pays Rs. 30 lakhs as a one-time lump sum alimony to the wife, which he had offered during the proceedings. The husband has to pay this amount within 3 months, after which the court registry will draw the divorce decree. This Rs. 30 lakh payment will be the full and final settlement of the wife's maintenance claim.