In the midst of the continuing controversy surrounding the death of techie Atul Subhash of Bengaluru, who claimed that his wife and in-laws had harassed him, the Supreme Court has established an eight-point methodology for determining the amount of alimony. Atul Subhash, a Bihar native, filmed an 80-minute video in which he accused his estranged wife Nikita Singhania and her family of hitting him and his family with several cases in order to extract money from them before he took the drastic measure. In his 24-page suicide note, he also attacked the legal system.
When determining the amount of alimony in a divorce case on Tuesday, the Supreme Court bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Justice PV Varale advised other national courts to base their rulings on the considerations outlined in the ruling.
The eight points are as following:
Social and economic status of husband and wife
Basic needs of wife and children in the future
Qualification and employment of both parties
Means of income and property
Wife’s standard of living while living in in-laws’ house
Has she left her job to take care of the family?
Reasonable amount for legal battle for a wife who is not working
What will be the financial status of the husband, his earnings and other responsibilities along with alimony.
The factors, said the top court, do not form a simple formula but serve as guidelines while fixing permanent alimony. “It is also necessary to ensure that the amount of permanent alimony should not penalize the husband but should be made with the aim of ensuring a decent standard of living for the wife,” said the top court.
A bench made up of Justices BV Nagarathna and N Kotiswar Singh dismissed a dowry case against a man and his parents earlier today, noting that the clause is occasionally used as a means of retaliation against the spouse and his family. A larger discussion about the abuse of dowry laws in India has been rekindled by the Atul Subhash case. Concerns on the increasing tendency of abuse of Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which deals with cruelty committed against married women by husbands and their family members, have already been voiced by the Supreme Court. In his suicide note, the Bengaluru techie called for justice, stating, “Justice is Due” on every single page of the 24-page note. In 2019, Atul and Nikita got married after meeting on a dating service. The next year, the couple welcomed a boy into the world.
Atul Subhash has alleged that his wife’s family would repeatedly demand money running into several lakhs. When he refused to give more money, his wife left the Bengaluru home with their son in 2021.
He further said that his wife and her family first demanded ₹ 1 crore to settle the case, but later hiked this to ₹ 3 crore.
