15K pocket money, domestic help: SC pact saves marriage

BOTH SETS OF PARENTS, TOO, AGREED TO GIVE THE COUPLE ENOUGH SPACE TO SPEND TIME WITH EACH OTHER AND REBUILD THEIR RELATIONSHIP

- Utkarsh Anand

NEW DELHI: In a world where courts often witness the bitter end of marriage, the Supreme Court of India recently recorded something rather extraordinary -- a broken marriage salvaged not by grand gestures but by a pragmatic checklist that included ₹15,000 monthly pocket money for the wife, a full-time domestic help and a solemn promise from in-laws to give the couple space.

The man and the woman were not an ideal couple, at least not by courtroom records. Their love marriage, solemnised in February 2024, crumbled within four months. By June, they had separated and retreated to their respective parental homes in Mumbai and Jaunpur. What followed was a string of legal disputes, including a domestic violence complaint, a first information report and a divorce petition in a Jaunpur court.