Alimony Must Be Commensurate With Status Of Spouses, Wife's Meagre Financial Requirements No Grounds To Restrict Amount: Calcutta High Court

The Calcutta High Court has held that the alimony sought for and granted to a spouse must be commensurate with the actual status and necessities of the spouses and merely because the wife had meagre financial means would not be a justification to restrict the amount granted.A division bench of Justices Sabyasachi Bhattacharya and Uday Kumar held:In the present case, if we go by the monthly income disclosed by the husband himself, the amount claimed by the wife is even less than one fifth of such salary. The question is not what are the actual daily requirements of the wife but as to what is the perceived requirement of the wife, taking into account not only her daily bread but her other necessities commensurate with the status of both spouses.Even if the status of the husband and his professional qualification is taken into consideration, monthly alimony of Rs.1 lakh is a meagre nothing. Moreover, there is no logic behind the argument that since the wife at present draws an amount of Rs.10,909/- per month, at least between January and November, 2024, her requirements are restricted to such amount. In view of meagre financial means, a person may very well be constrained to limited drawings from her limited resources. However, that does not necessarily mean that her necessities, in particular commensurate with her husband, are required to be restricted to that amount, it added.The present plea was filed by the respondent/wife in the appeal claiming alimony to the tune of Rs.1 lakh per month.Counsel appearing for the respondent/wife contends that in a Civil Revisional Application which is still pending in this Court at the behest of the appellant/husband, the husband annexed personal information on the basis of affidavit-of-assets filed in the trial court therefrom the husband is seen to have admitted his monthly income to be Rs.11,85,730/-.Thus, the monthly income now pleaded by the husband, which is to the tune Rs. 3 lakh per month with variable monthly bonus of Rs.2,73,000/-, is a gross suppression of the actual income of the husband.It was argued that the respondent/wife has substantiated her requirements from the averments made in her application and her other pleadings and, having no independent income of her own, is entitled to alimony of at least Rs.1 lakh per month as claimed.Senior counsel appearing for the appellant/husband, while opposing the application, pointed out that the monthly salary of the husband, as disclosed in the affidavit-of-asset filed in the present appeal, is Rs.3 lakh with monthly bonus of Rs.2,73,000/- which is an ad hoc payment based on projected business of the company where the appellant/husband works.Thus, such a monthly bonus is a fluctuating figure and cannot be a reasonable basis for ascertaining the monthly income of the husband.Counsel pointed to various loans and EMIs payable by the husband and stated that he had to incur substantial expenses as well.Senior counsel for the husband argued that the wife admittedly drew a monthly amount to the tune of Rs.10,909/- from January 21, 2024 to November 2, 2024. Moreover, the total medical expenses for the wife for the year 2024 has been disclosed to be Rs.65,686/- approximately. However, despite the same, she had stated that her monthly medical expenses was Rs.55,000/- which is, thus, not credible.It is argued that if the average withdrawal per month of the wife is Rs.10,909/- for a period of eleven months between January and November, 2024, it is not understandable as to how and for what expenses she requires the huge amount of alimony to the tune of Rs.1 lakh per month.Court stated that while the husband's income had been earlier admitted, it was not understandable as to how, with the lapse of time, the monthly income of the husband got reduced from Rs.11,85,730 to Rs.3 lakh along with monthly bonus of Rs.2,73,000/- per month.The remuneration of a professional of the stature and qualification of the appellant/husband, in the present case, a Cost and Management Accountant, cannot decrease with time unless there is some specific and categorically disclosed reason for the same, the Court held.Insofar as the alimony is concerned, it is a settled rule of thumb that the monthly alimony granted to the wife is between one fifth and one third of the net income of the husband, it held.Thus the plea was disposed of and the wife was granted alimony of Rs 1 lakh per month.Click here to read order

Alimony Must Be Commensurate With Status Of Spouses, Wife's Meagre Financial Requirements No Grounds To Restrict Amount: Calcutta High Court

Srinjoy Das

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