‘Shameless youth’: Why Allahabad HC ordered husband to pay Rs 15 lakh compensation to wife

“The wife’s body language and demeanor reflected that she has been physically abused and now seems to be mentally drained, whereas the petitioner-husband is a well built, shameless youth, who has no respect for hard work, sincerity, and loyalty. The petitioner-husband seems to come from a comparatively well-off family, whose uncle was earlier Member of Parliament and mother was ex-pradhan of the village,” the court observed.

It added that the wife comes from a modest middle-class family; her father is retired from the police services and her mother served in the health department as a Group-D employee. The wife secured a government job as an Additional Private Secretary in 2019 and married the petitioner shortly after her results were declared, the court observed.

The bench stated, “The petitioner-husband, being an able-bodied person and a practicing advocate, cannot seek to project himself as wholly dependent without full and candid disclosure of his financial status, particularly in the absence of an affidavit of assets and liabilities.”

Misleading claims, false affidavits

The bench further observed, “The High Court is not a window shopping forum… the petitioner has approached this court numerous times with incorrect and misleading facts and swearing false affidavits in support of petitions and applications. [His] conduct in suppressing material facts and pursuing parallel remedies, while seeking equitable relief, disentitles him from any indulgence by this court.”

Citing submissions by the wife’s counsel, the court stated that the petitioner concealed the fact that he had been receiving Rs 5,000 per month as maintenance from her following an order by a Family Court, Prayagraj.

The bench pointed out that under Section 144 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, he is not entitled to claim maintenance. The husband also concealed that proceedings related to that maintenance had been stayed by the High Court.

The court further noted that the wife, through her counsel, alleged that her husband made her take loans of Rs 11.50 lakh and Rs 13.56 lakh in 2020 and 2022, respectively, under the false promise of buying land. These loans were taken against her salary.

While one loan has been repaid, she is still paying a monthly EMI of Rs 26,020 for the second. The husband allegedly transferred the loan amounts to his own account through UPI and spent them on alcohol and a lavish lifestyle, the submission claimed.

The court observed that while a working woman may initially endure such deprivation in the expectation that the marriage will eventually stabilise, where this “expectation is frustrated, and the relationship… becomes a vehicle for sustained economic and emotional exploitation”, the law cannot remain indifferent.

The bench ordered, “The present petition is dismissed with the compensatory cost of Rs 15,00,000 to be given to the respondent-wife within six weeks from today by way of demand draft. The demand draft be deposited with the Registrar General of this Court, who shall… hand (it) over the respondent-wife.”

If the husband fails to pay, the court said:

• The District Magistrate, Etawah, will recover the amount as arrears of land revenue within three months.
• The Sub-Registrar will ensure that no third-party interest shall be created by the husband and no sale transaction shall be permitted from today till the recovery of cost.
• A committee will be formed to inquire into his movable and immovable assets

Additional directions:

• The bench directed the Principal Judge, Family Court, Prayagraj to expedite proceedings in the matrimonial case, under the Hindu Marriage Act, filed by the wife.
• It also directed the same court to call for an inquiry to examine the question of initiation of appropriate proceedings against the husband for filing false affidavits and concealing facts.