Spouse of void marriage under Hindu Marriage Act entitled to permanent alimony/maintenance: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court has held that a spouse whose marriage has been declared void under Section 11 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 is entitled to seek permanent alimony or maintenance from the other spouse by invoking Section 25 of the 1955 Act [Sukhdev Singh v. Sukhbir Kaur]..However, the Bench of Justices AS Oka, Ahsanuddin Amanullah and AG Masih cautioned that whether such a relief of permanent alimony can be granted or not "always depends on the facts of each case and the conduct of the parties since grant of relief under Section 25 is always discretionary.".The three-judge bench was deciding a reference made it to it by a division bench in August last year. The question for consideration was whether permanent alimony can be granted in a marriage that has been declared void. While two previous judgments answered the question in the affirmative, five others were against the grant of permanent alimony/maintenance in such cases..The Court interpreted the relationship between Section 11 of the Act, which deals with declaration of void marriages, and Section 25, which grants courts the power to order payment of permanent alimony or maintenance to a spouse. It held,"While enacting Section 25(1), the legislature has made no distinction between a decree of divorce and a decree declaring marriage as a nullity. Therefore, on a plain reading of Section 25(1), it will not be possible to exclude a decree of nullity under Section 11 from the purview of Section 25(1) of the 1955 Act.".It also distinguished Section 25 of the 1955 Act from Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), which empowers court to order maintenance for wives, children and parents"It (Section 25 HMA) confers rights on the spouses of the marriage declared as void under Section 11 of the 1955 Act to claim maintenance from the other spouse. The remedy is available to both husband and wife. The principles which apply to Section 125 of the CrPC cannot be applied to Section 25 of the 1955 Act. The relief under Section 125 of the CrPC can be granted to wife or child and not to husband," reads the judgment. .Counsel for the appellant raised an apprehension that if Section 25 of the 1955 Act also applies to void marriages, it will lead to a "ridiculous" result. He cited hypothetical example of a wife whose first marriage is subsisting, inducing another man to marry her, and that of a daughter getting married to her father. However, the Court held that safeguards against misuse already exist in the statute."A grant of a decree under Section 25 of the 1955 Act is discretionary. If the conduct of the spouse who applies for maintenance is such that the said spouse is not entitled to discretionary relief, the Court can always turn down the prayer for the grant of permanent alimony..."It thus held that spouses of void marriages are entitled to permanent alimony or maintenance under Section 25 of the HMA..The second question before the Court was whether in a petition seeking a declaration that a marriage is void, a spouse is entitled to seek maintenance pendente lite (depending on the outcome of the case) under Section 24 of the 1955 Act.The Court held that Section 24 empowers courts to grant interim maintenance to parties provided two conditions are fulfilled:(i) There must be a proceeding under the 1955 Act pending and (ii) The court must come to a conclusion that either the wife or the husband, as the case may be, has no independent income sufficient for her or his support and the necessary expenses of the proceeding..[Read Judgment]