“Able Bodied Man With Capacity To Earn Cannot Seek Permanent Alimony From Wife”, Says Karnataka HC, Dismisses Plea Filed By Husband

“Able Bodied Man With Capacity To Earn Cannot Seek Permanent Alimony From Wife”, Says Karnataka HC, Dismisses Plea Filed By Husband

We’ve all heard men’s rights activists crying a river about how men don’t have equal rights as women, especially in terms of divorce and alimony cases. While I do empathise with them but the fact remains that while there may not be any laws explicitly allowing men to seek alimony but some landmark judgements made in the past have made it case laws. These case laws allow men to seek maintenance and alimony from their wives. But at the same time, this law does not mean that people can exploit it. Proving the point in case, the Karnataka High Court, in a recent divorce case, observed that an able-bodied man having the capacity to earn cannot seek permanent alimony from his wife for a divorce.

A division bench of Justices Alok Aradhe and J M Khazi of Karnakatak High Court dismissed a plea filed by a man seeking permanent alimony from his wife under section 25 of the Hindu Marriage Act. As per Live Law, according to the appeal, the man is a security guard at a temple on a contract basis and has lost the job and has no means to sustain himself. The wife, however, is employed as an Assistant Manager at a Co-operative Society. The plea contended that the wife is under the obligation to maintain the appellant. The plea also stated that the wife left the matrimonial home in February 1994 prior to the delivery of the couple’s son and even after the birth of their son, she did not return to the matrimonial home after which the husband filed a petition seeking dissolution of marriage as well as permanent alimony from the wife. On the other hand, the wife had contended that she is earning a salary of Rs. 8,000 and has to take care of their son who is a teenager. The Family Court passed a judgement in 2015 dissolving the marriage by a decree of divorce but the petition filed by the husband seeking permanent alimony under Section 25 of the Hindu Marriage Act was dismissed after which he filed a plea in the Karnataka High Court.

Also Read: Husband And In-Laws Cannot Retain Streedhan After Annulment Of Marriage, Rules Karnataka High Court

Hearing the case, the Karnataka High Court held that in order to determine the issue pertaining to permanent alimony in any case, the status of the parties, reasonable wants of the spouse, independent income and property of the claimant and other relevant factors need to be taken into consideration. The Court noted that the petitioner in question is an able-bodied person and has admitted that he has a share in the lands held by his father and also has a share in a residential property which are valuable properties. The court noted that the appellant has the capacity to earn and said, “For the aforementioned reasons, we do not find any ground to interfere with the impugned judgment and decree” and dismissed the petition.

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Janvi Manchanda

​​She uses her pen to slice through patriarchy. She could be Geet one day, Wednesday Addams next. Writing is the bane of her existence and the object of all her desires!

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