In Brief
A wife filed for protection under the Domestic Violence Act and interim maintenance after her husband filed a criminal writ seeking arrest stay. The couple married in 2015 and separated within a year; the marriage had been dead for nine years with failed reconciliation attempts across multiple courts. The Supreme Court held that such facts establish irretrievable breakdown of marriage and exercised its Article 142 powers to grant divorce. The Court also determined permanent alimony, applying a comprehensive framework weighing both parties' financial status, income, assets, and dependants. Rejecting the wife's demand for Rs. 5-7 crores and the husband's offer of Rs. 50 lakhs, the Court awarded Rs. 2 crores as reasonable one-time settlement, balancing the respondent's substantial income advantage against the appellant's need for a decent standard of living.
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