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Mukul Sarma v. Sabita Chakraborty

Civil Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Civil Appeal Nos. 713-714 of 2016)Decided 1 Feb 2016
Civil Appeal Nos. 713-714 of 2016
Justice Kurian Joseph · Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman

Background

The High Court had directed the husband to pay Rs. 7,00,000 in permanent alimony to his wife and Rs. 3,00,000 for their child. The husband appealed to the Supreme Court raising grievances about this alimony order, while the wife, responding through Legal Aid counsel, informed the Court that personal and family circumstances prevented her from travelling to Delhi for the proceedings.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court declined to interfere with the quantum of alimony fixed by the High Court, finding no merit in disturbing that amount. However, taking into account the genuine difficulties faced by the appellant, the Court rescheduled the payment timeline: the Rs. 3,00,000 for the child was to be paid within one month, and the Rs. 7,00,000 for the wife was restructured into an initial Rs. 1,00,000 payment followed by six monthly instalments of Rs. 1,00,000 each, to be completed by the end of November 2016. The Court made clear that any consecutive default would expose the appellant to contempt proceedings in addition to execution.

Lesson Learnt

Appellate courts may decline to reduce an alimony amount already fixed by a lower court but can still grant practical relief by restructuring the payment schedule into manageable instalments, while making clear that repeated default carries serious consequences, including contempt.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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