Supreme Court lays down 8 key factors for deciding alimony amount amid Bengaluru techie's suicide case.
 

In response to growing concerns about the emotional and financial hardships of marital disputes, the Supreme Court of India has introduced new guidelines to determine the amounts to be paid as alimony in divorce cases. This order came in the case of divorce proceedings between Praveen Kumar Jain and Anju Jain, and the court underlined eight important factors to be considered while deciding the maintenance amount.

The ruling comes at a time when the nation is grappling with the tragic suicide of Bengaluru techie Atul Subhash, who alleged years of emotional distress due to marital issues. His tragic death has brought attention to the difficulties many face in divorce proceedings, especially when emotional and financial pressures mount. Subhash, who was harassed by his wife, her relatives, and even a judge, took his life, leaving behind a placard that read "Justice is due."

The Supreme Court, in response to these concerns, laid out the following 8 key factors to guide the determination of alimony:

The social and economic status of both the husband and wife.
The basic needs of the wife and children after the divorce.
Qualifications and employment status of both parties.
Income and assets sources of both individuals
Standard of living the wife enjoyed during the marriage.
Employment status of the wife and her earning capacity
Reasonable legal fee for the wife not employed
Financial responsibility of the husband and his earnings.

The formula established by Justices Vikram Nath and Prasanna V Varale is set to provide an equal approach towards divorce so that the individuals undergoing divorce would get emotional as well as monetary relief.

Praveen Kumar Jain will hence face a judgment that fixes an alimony of Rs 5 crores, which could establish a precedent for a case like this in future times. With the number of divorce cases and emotional harassment disputes on the rise, guidelines like these are to cause tectonic shifts in Indian legal matters related to alimony rulings more so in cases like Praveen Kumar Jain involving higher emotional and financial pressure cases.