Unemployed ex-husband must be paid alimony every month; High Court to teacher

MUMBAI: Mumbai High Court has asked a teacher to pay alimony to her ex-husband. The High Court upheld the order passed by a local court in Nanded, Maharashtra.

The court issued the order on February 26. Justice Bharti Dangre of the Aurangabad Bench of the High Court upheld the orders issued by the local courts in 2017 and 2019.

The civil court ordered the woman to pay an interim alimony of Rs 3,000 to her ex-husband. It also asked the headmaster to deduct Rs 5,000 every month from the woman's salary and hand over the amount to the court.

Two years after the divorce, the ex-husband had approached the local court seeking permanent alimony. But the woman, who claimed she had divorced her husband in 2015, opposed the lower court order. The woman's lawyer also argued that neither party had the right to claim alimony once the divorce was obtained. However, the man's lawyer argued that there were no restrictions on seeking alimony under Hindu marriage law. The woman's ex-husband told the court that he had no source of income and could not go to work due to health problems. He claimed that he had paid for the girl's education after marriage and that he needed alimony. With this, Justice Dangre upheld the lower court order granting the ex-husband the right to claim alimony under sections 24 and 25 of the Hindu Marriage Act.