Archive · 6 Aug 2026
Calcutta High Court grants divorce after 19-year separation, sets alimony
A husband and wife in India had been living separately for more than 19 years.
They went to court to ask for a divorce.
A lower court said no, but a bigger court called the Calcutta High Court said yes.
The judges said it would be unfair and painful for both of them to stay married after being apart for so long.
The wife wanted a big payment called alimony — 40 lakh rupees.
The husband offered to pay 7 lakh rupees.
The judges decided the husband should pay 10 lakh rupees, and he must do it within three months.
The judges noticed that the wife did not tell them everything about her money, so they did not trust her financial claims.
The couple's 25-year-old daughter is a doctor in training, and her father promised to pay for her further studies and wedding.
The Calcutta High Court granted a divorce to a couple who had been living separately for more than 19 years.
The court held that the continuation of the marriage would amount to cruelty to both spouses and that the marriage had broken down irretrievably.
The bench directed the husband to pay Rs 10 lakh as permanent alimony within three months, while the wife had sought Rs 40 lakh.
The wife, a private school teacher earning about Rs 39,000 per month, was found to have suppressed financial details in her affidavit of assets.
The court recorded the husband's undertaking to bear the expenses of their 25-year-old daughter's higher studies and marriage.
- Who
- A married couple — a husband who is a craft instructor and a wife who is a private school teacher — appearing before Justices Rajasekhar Mantha and Partha Sarathi Sen of the Calcutta High Court.
- What
- The court granted the couple a divorce on grounds of irretrievable breakdown of marriage and ordered Rs 10 lakh in permanent alimony.
- When
- The order was issued on August 5; the trial court had refused divorce in November 2021.
- Where
- Calcutta High Court.
- Why
- The couple had lived separately for more than 19 years, and the court held that continuing the marriage would amount to cruelty to both spouses.
- Court
- Calcutta High Court
- Bench
- Justices Rajasekhar Mantha and Partha Sarathi Sen
- Separation duration
- More than 19 years
- Permanent alimony
- Rs 10 lakh, payable within three months
- Alimony sought by wife
- Rs 40 lakh
- Alimony offered by husband
- Rs 7 lakh
- Wife's monthly salary
- About Rs 39,000 (private school teacher)
- Husband's monthly salary
- About Rs 1.16 lakh (craft instructor)
- Daughter
- 25-year-old MBBS graduate interning with a stipend of about Rs 30,000 per month