On 16th July (Thursday), the Supreme Court expressed concern over raising complaints to the employers of other spouse during matrimonial litigation. It noted that these complaints can lead to job loss and ultimately have an impact on maintenance. The remarks were made by the bench of Justice B.V. Nagarathna and Justice R. Mahadevan.
“Writing to a spouse’s employer during matrimonial disputes was ‘one of the worst things’ a wife could do, since it could cost the husband his job and leave little basis for any future maintenance claim,” stated Nagarathna. The statement transpired during the hearing of a woman’s petition to transfer a defamation lawsuit that her husband’s friend had brought against her from Assam to Ghaziabad.
The submission claimed that she was already involved in several cases against her husband in Ghaziabad. Meanwhile, Nagarathna noted that many wives were writing to the superiors of their husbands citing adultery or mistreatment after which they were thrown out of their position and faced termination. She noted that pursuing a divorce was one matter but jeopardising a spouse’s means of income was far more severe.
The court underlined that although obtaining a formal separation or maintenance is a valid right, involving military command or corporate management in private conflicts usually leads to disciplinary investigations, suspensions or even termination. Litigants unintentionally undermine their own financial safety net by eliminating the major earner’s source of income.
The present case transpired from a complaint made to Air Force authorities in Delhi. A woman wrote that her Air Force Officer husband was operating an independent business in contravention of service norms. Her attorney argued that the action was only taken after he filed a bogus complaint accusing her and her brother of stealing an Air Force helmet. He insisted that the submission sought to find out the article’s whereabouts after it had been assigned. The counsel also emphasised that the defamation case was not brought by the husband but his friend.
In order to investigate the potential of a settlement between the parties, the court delegated the case to the Supreme Court Mediation Centre. Justice Nagarathna also urged counsel for the wife to encourage her to address the disagreements and withdraw the claims.
