The Delhi High Court has rejected former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s plea for seeking divorce from estranged wife Payal Abdullah.
The Division Bench of Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva and Justice Vikas Mahajan agreed with the family court order which had rejected Abdullah’s plea.
The High Court said that it agreed with finding of the family court refusing to grant divorce to Omar Abdullah. The bench said that it finds no infirmity in the family court order which refused to grant him divorce.
The Division Bench said that they could not find infirmity with the view taken by the family court that the allegations of cruelty were vague and unacceptable and the appellant failed to prove any act which can be termed cruelty either physical or mental. The Court thus dismissed the case.
Living separately for a quite some time now, Omar and Payal Abdullah got married in September 1994.
The divorce plea by Abdullah was rejected by a family court on August 30, 2016. The family court had held that he failed to prove “irretrievable breakdown of the marriage”. The Court said Omar Abdullah could not prove his claims of “cruelty” or “desertion” and that he was not able to explain a single circumstance that made it impossible for him to continue the relationship with Payal Abdullah.
Abdullah then moved the High Court where he claimed that his marriage had broken down irretrievably. He said that while he and Payal Abdullah got married in September 1994, they have been living separately since 2009.
He challenged the trial court order before the Delhi High Court in September 2016.
It is pertinent to note that the High Court had enhanced the maintenance that Omar Abdullah had been ordered to pay to Payal Abdullah.
Justice Subramonium Prasad ordered the National Conference leader to pay Rs 1.5 lakh per month as maintenance to Payal and Rs 60,000 per month each to his two sons for the time they were enrolled in law school.
In proceedings under Section 125 of Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), the trial court had granted interim maintenance of Rs 75,000 per month to Payal Abdullah and Rs 25,000 to their son till he turns 18.