New Delhi: The Supreme Court has directed a man to pay Rs 1.25 crore of outstanding arrears of maintenance to his wife whom he had abandoned after fleeing to Australia.
The apex court said the husband displayed persistent defiant conduct in compliance with its order and the wife fought several rounds of litigation against her in-laws, who chose to go to jail rather than paying her, and secured court orders in her favour, yet she remained without a remedy.
A bench comprising Justices S. Ravindra Bhat and Aravind Kumar said the past history of this case, and the orders of this court have demonstrated the utter obduracy of Varun Gopal, who abandoned his wife, and virtually fled to Australia. The bench noted that the documents placed on record of this court, including the affidavits filed by Varun's father, and the bank account statements, reveal that considerable amounts of money were remitted to Varun Gopal, over a period of time. The bench criticized the defiant conduct by Varun and his father Mohan Gopal, who have through one pretext or another stalled compliance with the orders of the apex court.
The bench directed that the Varun’s family 6 shops (ancestral property inherited) shall be put to sale by the registrar of the Delhi High Court, who shall ensure that the best prices are realized. “The amounts realized from the sale shall be deposited in a fixed deposit receipt, initially for six months, and its interest, disbursed to the second respondent/applicant. In the event of no sale, the attachment of property shall continue in favour of the applicant”, said the bench.
In the second direction, the bench said the attachment of rent of another shop, which fetches Rs 55,000 per month, “shall be continued, till the petitioner (Varun’s father), and his son, Varun Gopal, pay the amount constituting the balance between the amount realized by direction (regarding the shops) and Rs. 1.25 crores”.
The bench said if the second direction is not complied within one year, the registrar is directed to take steps, and within three months, and seek option from the applicant regarding whether she would wish the transfer of title to the said premises in her name, or its sale. “In the event she opts for the transfer, the Registrar Delhi High Court, is directed to take all necessary steps to execute a conveyance deed (under the present directions) to that effect, the sale shall be registered by the concerned authorities, and the applicant shall be handed over symbolic possession”, said the bench, in its judgment passed on October 20.
The woman and Varun got married in the year 2012-13, and Varun was employed in Australia. Within two years of marriage, the matrimonial relationship deteriorated leading to various legal proceedings. Varun filed anticipatory bail application, but relief was denied to him and since then, he has not participated in the criminal proceedings or in the maintenance proceedings.
“The present petitioners (father-in-law and mother-in-law) also sought anticipatory bail to which orders were passed by this court directing them to deposit Rs.40 lakhs towards arrears of maintenance. The money having been not deposited, the anticipatory bail was not granted and they were arrested. After 10 months in custody, this court by order dated July 12, 2019 directed their release on bail”, noted the apex court.
According to the wife, Varun is settled in Australia where he obtained an ex-parte divorce decree dated December 21, 2017, by the family court of Australia. The wife had filed a suit for cancellation of divorce on November 8, 2021, in the family court of Bilaspur, which is pending disposal.
The wife claimed that in the meantime, the husband has remarried and now has two kids from his second marriage. The wife lives with her widowed mother, on whom she is dependent for expenses, including litigation expenses. A trial court had granted a maintenance of Rs 1, 27, 500 per month in favour of the wife in April 2021.
The wife claimed that the current outstanding arrears of maintenance amounts to Rs 1.25 Cr. approx. (as of the order dated September 2, 2021) and asserted that all available modes for the execution of her maintenance order have been exhausted. She sought transfer of ownership of the shops in her name as a means to settle her outstanding maintenance arrears and future maintenance as well.
“It was also submitted that mother-in-law was signatory to the memorandum dated October 22, 2018, before the mediation centre of the Supreme Court, which recorded that the parties had settled their case and an amount of ₹1.29 Crore was to be made over to R2 (wife) for the same. However, no money was paid to R2”, noted the apex court.
The wife asked the apex court to invoke its power under Article 142 of the Constitution as she approached it in 2018 where firstly Varun’s father and his deceased wife had enjoyed the fruits of anticipatory bail by giving an undertaking of making the payment of due arrears of around Rs 40 lakhs at that point of time. But despite several assurances to the apex court, the same was not paid. The wife also filed a contempt petition where the apex court took cognizance but petitioners did not make the payment and chose to go to jail.
Giving the relief to the wife, the bench noted, “even as per Order dated December 13, 2018, this court referred the matter to the Executing Court but nothing material could be done as the petitioners were not appearing before the executing court and again in the regular bail matter, this court granted them regular bail. Hence, even after so many rounds of litigation, and after 5 years, R2 (wife) is still remediless”.
