Telangana High Court orders defiant husband to pay permanent alimony in 10 days

HYDERABAD: Taking a serious view of a man for disobeying a court decree to pay permanent alimony to his former wife and two children, the Telangana High Court made it clear that it can order auction of his properties and pay her.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice Hima Kohli and Justice A. Abhishek Reddy was dealing with an appeal filed by A. Laxmi Tulasi, urging the court to direct her former husband, A. Surendar, to pay Rs 40 lakh as permanent alimony to her and transfer 2.5 acres of agricultural land in Palkonda of Mahbubnagar Urban Mandal to their son. She also asked the court to direct her husband to transfer part of his ancestral house in Palakonda on her name.

Her grievance was that since 2006, after a family court had issued a decree for permanent alimony, her husband Surendar had not paid her anything till date. She has been struggling to make ends meet, Laxmi Tulasi told the court.

According to her, their two children, who were aged one and three when the divorce was granted, have now grown up. Therefore, she prayed that at least a part of the offer being made to her should be complied with immediately. She informed the High Court that Surendar had said that he was willing to give only Rs 10 lakh as permanent alimony.

During a hearing on December 23, 2020, the High Court had ordered Surendar to pay Rs 5 lakh as partial money immediately. Responding to the requests of transferring property, the court had directed the tahsildar of Palakonda to submit a report after assessing values of the properties that Surendar had in his possession.

Surendar ignored the orders, which enraged the court. As a final warning it said that if the orders were not complied within 10 days, it would order an auction of his properties to raise money for permanent alimony.