The Delhi High Court on Friday held that alimony cannot be awarded to a spouse who is “financially self-sufficient”.

A division bench of Justices Anil Kshetarpal and Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar upheld a family court’s August 2023 decision denying permanent alimony to a woman employed as a senior officer in the Indian Railways Traffic Service.

The court also upheld the family court’s decision to grant divorce to her husband, a lawyer, on the grounds of cruelty.

In its judgement, the Delhi High Court said that “it is a settled principle that permanent alimony is intended as a measure of social justice and not as a tool for enrichment or equalising the financial status of two capable individuals.”

The court stressed that an applicant for alimony must demonstrate a real need for financial

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