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Udita Nabha v. Ranjeet Nabha

Civil Appeal · 2018 INSC 612Decided 16 Jul 2018
Civil Appeal Nos. 6695-6697 of 2018
Justice N.V. Ramana · Justice S. Abdul Nazeer

Background

A married couple's divorce proceeding resulted in the Family Court granting the wife a lumpsum permanent alimony of Rs. 6 crore for herself and Rs. 5 crore for their minor daughter, with part of the daughter's share to be locked in a fixed deposit. Both parties appealed this order to the Bombay High Court, and while those appeals remained pending, the husband was directed to deposit 75% of the alimony amount with the court as a condition for staying execution of the money decree. The wife then sought permission to withdraw the deposited sums, and after the High Court only partially allowed this (directing most of the money into further fixed deposits) and dismissed her review petition, she approached the Supreme Court.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court noted that the wife's and daughter's actual monthly support had shrunk to only about Rs. 29,000 for the child despite the grant of permanent alimony, and that the main appeals on the merits were still pending before the High Court. Declining to go into the merits of whether alimony was warranted at all (calling that a question for the pending High Court appeals), the Court confined itself strictly to whether the conditions imposed on withdrawal of the deposited funds were reasonable. Balancing the wife and child's immediate needs against the husband's interest in not being unjustly deprived of his funds during the appeal, the Court modified the High Court's order to permit the wife to withdraw Rs. 2 crore as an interim measure during the pendency of the intra-court appeal. It requested the High Court to dispose of the pending appeals expeditiously and clarified it had expressed no view on the merits, which the High Court should decide uninfluenced by this order.

Lesson Learnt

Even while a main dispute (here, the full alimony appeal) remains pending elsewhere, a party is not left without any remedy for funds already deposited in court: the Supreme Court can grant practical interim relief, such as permitting partial withdrawal, to balance both sides' hardship without pre-judging the underlying merits.

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

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