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SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
VIKRAM NATH, PRASHANT KUMAR MISHRAM, JJ.
Kiran Jyot Maini – Appellant
Versus
Anish Pramod Patel – Respondent
Criminal Appeal Nos. 2915 of 2024 (@ Special Leave to Petition (Crl.) Nos. 672-675 of 2024) with Criminal Appeal Nos. 2918 of 2024 (@ Special Leave to Petition (Crl.) Nos. 1168-1171 of 2024)
Decided on : 15-07-2024
(A) Constitution of India – Article 142 – Divorce – Marital discord – Parties cohabited after marriage for less than a year and have been living separately since last nine years – Nature of allegations made by appellant are grave as, according to her, she was subjected to cruelty, hurt, and dowry demands by respondent, and she has also initiated criminal action against her husband – Multiple attempts at reconciliation between appellant and respondent have been made by Courts at different stages but all efforts have been futile – Multiple legal proceedings are pending between parties and do not appear to possibly conclude in near future – This is a fit case to exercise discretionary powers vested in this Court under Article 142 of Constitution of India and to dissolve marriage between parties – Marriage between appellant-wife and respondent-husband ordered to be dissolved in exercise of this Court’s powers under Article 142 of Constitution of India. (Paras 20 and 21)
(B) Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 – Section 23 – Award of interim maintenance/permanent alimony – While issue of interim maintenance is now closed with dissolution of marriage, interest of wife still needs to be protected so that she does not suffer financially – Principle for determination of maintenance by way of one-time settlement apply equally to all statutes and personal laws – Status of parties is a significant factor, encompassing their social standing, lifestyle, and financial background – Financial capacity of husband is a critical factor in determining permanent alimony – Court shall examine husband's actual income, reasonable expenses for his own maintenance and any dependants he is legally obligated to support – His liabilities and financial commitments are also to be considered to ensure a balanced and fair maintenance award – Court must consider husband's standard of living and impact of inflation and high living costs – Even if husband claims to have no source of income, his ability to earn, given his education and qualifications, is to be taken into account – Courts shall ensure that relief granted is fair, reasonable, and consistent with standard of living to which aggrieved party was accustomed – Even if wife is earning, it does not bar her from receiving maintenance – Respondent has legal obligation as also financial capacity to maintain his wife after dissolution of marriage – Onetime settlement amount of Rs. 2 Crores would be a balanced and fair amount – This amount would also cover all pending and future claims. (Paras 22, 23, 25, 26, 27, 32 and 33)
Facts of the case:
Present appeals arise out of impugned order dated 01.12.2023 passed by Delhi High Court in CRL.M.C. 406/2023 & CRL.M.A. 4294/2023, CRL.M.A. 4907/2023, CRL.M.A. 17294/2023, whereby Court has directed respondent to pay only 20% of total arrears of interim maintenance granted by Additional Sessions Judge, Gautam Budh Nagar to appellant in appeals before it. Present appeals also challenge rejection of appellants prayer for attachment of bank account of respondent and payment of complete arrears of Rs. 65,00,000/- as on date of impugned judgement, towards interim maintenance.
Findings of Court:
Demand made by appellant is exceptionally high but, at the same time, amount offered by respondent is insufficient in the broader rubric of maintenance considerations.
Result : Appeals allowed.
JUDGMENT :
Vikram Nath, J.
Leave granted.
2. The present appeals arise out of the impugned order dated 01.12.2023 passed by the Delhi High Court in CRL.M.C. 406/2023 & CRL.M.A. 4294/2023, CRL.M.A. 4907/2023, CRL.M.A. 17294/2023, whereby the Court has directed the respondent to pay only 20% of the total arrears of interim maintenance granted by the Additional Sessions Judge, Gautam Budh Nagar to the appellant in appeals before it. The present appeals also challenge the rejection of the appellants prayer for attachment of bank account of the respondent and payment of the complete arrears of Rs. 65,00,000/- (Rupees Sixty-Five Lakhs only), as on date of the impugned judgement, towards interim maintenance.
3. The factual background of the present case is that the marriage between the appellant -wife and the respondent-husband was solemnized on 30.04.2015 and, within one year, on 13.04.2016 FIR No.34/2016 was registered on the basis of the complaint made by the appellant-wife at Police Station Mahila Thana, Gautam Budh Nagar, U.P. under Sections 498A/323/504 of Indian Penal Code, 1860[In short, "IPC"] and Sections 3/4 of Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961[In short, "Act, 1961"]. In respondents Criminal Miscellaneous Writ Petition before the Allahabad High Court seeking stay on arrest and quashing of FIR, vide order dated 06.05.2016 the High Court referred the parties to mediation and thereby granted stay on arrest of the respondent. The Writ Petition was subsequently dismissed on merit vide order dated 22.09.2016.
4. Appellant thereafter preferred Application No. 4622 of 2016 under Section 12 of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005[In short, "PWDV Act"] before Judicial Magistrate, Gautam Budh Nagar, wherein an application seeking interim maintenance had also been filed by her under Section 23 of the PWDV Act. The Judicial Magistrate, vide order dated 10.05.2018, directed the respondent to pay interim maintenance of Rs. 35,000/- (Rupees Thirty-Five Thousand Only) to the appellant. Both the parties challenged this order through two separate appeals before the Additional Sessions Judge, Gautam Budh Nagar. Vide order dated 01.02.2019, the Additional Sessions Judge modified the order of the Judicial Magistrate and directed the respondent to pay Rs.45,000/- per month to the appellant and Rs.55,000/- per month to her daughter. The appeal preferred by the respondent was dismissed.
5. Aggrieved by the order of interim maintenance, the respondent preferred an Application bearing No. 12860/2019 under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973[In short, "CrPC]. before the High Court of Allahabad and the matter was again referred to mediation vide order dated 09.04.2019. The mediation between the parties failed on 06.07.2019 and the appellant preferred a Criminal Application No. 41/2019 under Section 31(1) of PWDV Act against the respondent for non-compliance of order dated 01.02.2019 i.e. for non-payment of interim maintenance. Summons were issued by the Court of learned Additional Civil Judge, Third, Gautam Budh Nagar. The summons were challenged by the respondent before the High Court of Allahabad through Application No. 33533/2019 under Section 482 of CrPC. Vide order dated 16.09.2019, the summons were stayed and vide order dated 13.12.2019, the High Court of Allahabad directed expeditious disposal of application of appellant under Section 12 of PWDV Act pending before the Judicial Magistrate as there was no stay operating in the proceedings.
6. Upon application made by the respondent, the proceedings in Application No. 4622 of 2016 under Section 12 of PWDV Act and Criminal Application No. 41/2019 under Section 31(1) of PWDV Act were transferred to Tis Hazari Courts, Delhi vide order dated 13.08.2021 passed by this Court. Case No. 41/2019 was registered at Delhi as Case No. 882/2022 and Case No. 4622/2016 was registered as Case No. 691/2022. Notices were issued to the parties on 04.04.2022 by the Mahila Court, Tis Hazari, Delh
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