Ashutosh Sarangi v. Reeta Dhara - (High Court of Orissa) (18 Aug 2015)

Confirming divorce between publicly vocal couple, High Court says “sometimes it is better to be a blind wife and a deaf husband”

MANU/OR/0340/2015

Family

The High Court upheld a finding of mental cruelty by the Respondent against the Petitioner on the basis of scandalous and frivolous allegations made to his superior officers and subsequent withdrawal “from the society of the Petitioner without any justifiable cause”. It, however, differed with the observations of the trial judge while determining alimony that the Respondent, a 33 year old housewife, did not have a chance of remarriage, and had pegged her life expectancy at 60 years. The Court, noting that life expectancy for females in India was closer to 70 years, and the Respondent was highly educated, reduced the alimony set and converted it from monthly payments to a lump sum amount. It opined that in the determination of quantum of permanent alimony the duration of marriage and separation, the age of the couple, their relative incomes, financial prospects, health and fault in breakdown of the marriage must be considered.

Relevant : Gurbux Singh v. Harminder Kaur MANU/SC/0829/2010 Vinny Parmvir Parmar Vrs. Parmvir Parmar MANU/SC/0842/2011 Shamima Farooqui Vrs. Shahid Khan MANU/SC/0380/2015

Tags : DIVORCE ALIMONY FAULT FALSE ALLEGATIONS