Wife ordered to pay back Rs 20 lakh to husband

Synopsis The wife took Rs 20 lakh to end the marriage, then refused to sign the final papers. Asked in court whether she wanted to live with her husband or divorce him, she answered in the negative to both. The Delhi High Court has now held her in contempt and given her six weeks to pay the money back. Listen to this article in summarized format Listen ET Online Can a wife take the settlement amount in a mutual divorce case and still decline to go ahead with the divorce? The Delhi High Court recently pronounced an order in a similar case where the wife took the settlement amount from her husband and yet refused to complete the divorce. It so happened that the couple was married and had a minor child. However, they sought to dissolve their marriage and signed a settlement to divorce by mutual consent on 01.09.2020. As part of this, the wife was to receive Rs 40 lakh in total - Rs 20 lakh at the first motion and the rest at the second motion. On 22.09.2020, the first motion was accepted by the Family Court (Dwarka) and the wife got Rs 20 lakh. The second motion was presented around a month later, but the couples’ statements were never recorded. What are the husband’s allegations against the wife? Mr Singh (husband) then filed an application under Section 26 of the Hindu Marriage Act , 1955 for custody of the child. He alleged that the wife was not properly caring for the child. As per his petition, Mrs Khuruna (the wife) had agreed not to seek any future maintenance. Despite this, she filed a maintenance petition even after receiving Rs 20 lakh from him along with her istri dhan articles. Additionally, Mrs Khurana also filed a criminal complaint and a domestic violence case. As a result, Mr Singh and his family faced further matrimonial and criminal proceedings. You Might Also Like: Be a gharjamai: Is wife asking her husband to leave his ageing parents and live in her parents' house as a househusband cruelty? Jharkhand HC judgement answers On 10.05.2022, the couple agreed that the custody of the child would remain with the wife and Mr Singh shall have visitation rights twice a month (on 2nd and 4th Saturday of every month between 2 PM to 7 PM), in addition to telephone and vacation rights. Mr Singh also agreed to contribute a maximum of Rs 5000 per month to the child’s fee till he turns 18. While both the parties agreed to withdraw their respective cases, Mr Singh alleged that Mrs Khurana failed to withdraw her domestic violence complaint and complete the second motion proceedings. He stated that because of this, the wife is not only liable for contempt of the court orders, but also liable to pay Rs 20 lakh with 2% interest per month. Can wife refuse divorce despite taking settlement money? ET Wealth Online spoke to legal experts who explained that either spouse can withdraw consent before the divorce decree. However, this right does not necessarily absolve a party of the consequences of wilfully breaching an undertaking given to the Court, said Apoorva Pandey, Advocate, Supreme Court of India. But withdrawing consent and walking away from a settlement are distinct questions, added Siddharth Batra, Advocate on Record, Supreme Court of India. Where a mediated settlement has been confirmed by the court and acted upon, resiling from it can attract serious consequences. ALSO READ | Husband claims annual salary fell to Rs 36 lakh, cites Rs 1.7 crore home loan; court orders Rs 2 lakh monthly maintenance to wife Tushar Kumar, Advocate, Supreme Court of India, further shared that where a party has voluntarily secured substantial financial or other benefits under a Court-recorded settlement and thereafter deliberately repudiates its obligations without sufficient justification, such conduct may attract contempt proceedings. How did the wife respond to the husband’s allegations? In her reply to the contempt petition, Mrs Khurana said that the consent for divorce by mutual consent must subsist till the date of recording of the statement in second motion; either party is legally entitled to withdraw the consent for valid reasons. With this, she alleged that the husband is in breach of the settlement because he filed a custody application during the pendency of the second motion. Mrs Khurana called it a classic case where the husband, after committing a deliberate breach, seeks to arm-twist her to return Rs 20 lakh. Did Delhi HC find the wife guilty in this case? After hearing both the parties, Justice Neena Bansal Krishna said the husband filed his custody application only after the second motion petition was presented. It also found that Mr Singh honoured the revised settlement by paying Rs 3,000 monthly towards the child and bearing the child's entire schooling expenses. The wife's maintenance proceedings, on the other hand, had resulted in an award of Rs 15,000 monthly for the child and Rs 10,000 per month for herself, effective from 2021. This was despite her earlier receipt of Rs 20 lakh under the divorce settlement. Citing Sureshta Devi v. Om Prakash, the Delhi HC underlined that the free consent of the parties must continue until the Decree of Divorce is passed. It clarified that in the transitional period, either party may change their mind and decide not to proceed with the petition. ALSO READ | Husband with Rs 11,000/month income ordered to pay Rs 25,000 monthly maintenance to wife, child with 5% annual increase; here's what Delhi HC said “Such a spouse's change of mind, cannot be termed as an act of Contempt. Mutual consent must continue till the divorce Decree is passed,” Justice Krishna stated. But the court found no evidence that the husband had refused to perform his settlement obligations, adding that his custody application did not amount to wilful disobedience of the settlement terms. Even after the revised settlement, the wife refused to complete the second motion without giving a satisfactory explanation. During the hearing, she was asked whether she wanted to live with her husband or obtain a divorce. She answered both in the negative. Finally, the Court found it evident that the wife had wilfully resiled from the settlement and held her deliberate failure to honour her undertaking amounted to civil contempt. Justice Krishna ordered her to refund Rs 20 lakh to Mr Singh within 6 weeks. Why did the husband succeed in this case? The husband succeeded because the settlement had already been substantially acted upon. The wife’s justification for backing out rested on alleged additional promises absent from the written settlement, which the Court did not accept, Advocate Batra explained. The Court also found the subsequent domestic violence proceedings an abuse of process. According to Advocate Kumar, what further helped the husband was the fact that he had honoured his financial obligations and that his application concerning custody could not be characterised as a wilful breach of the settlement. The wife’s inability to furnish a satisfactory explanation for disregarding her undertaking proved decisive. Can a spouse back out of a mutual consent divorce ? What can be the repercussions? While the Delhi HC too clarified this in its judgement, Advocate Pandey suggested that the circumstances surrounding withdrawal, including whether it reflects a genuine change of mind or deliberate disregard of a court-recorded undertaking, become significant. “Fraud, force, undue influence or the other spouse’s failure to fulfil agreed conditions can justify challenging the settlement. Mere dissatisfaction with the bargain stands on a different footing. This ruling should not, however, be understood as allowing every family court to grant a mutual consent divorce despite withdrawn consent,” noted Batra. The consequences may include restitution of benefits received and, where the statutory ingredients are established, sanctions under the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971. ALSO READ | Daughter vs father legal fight over Rs