The Supreme Court on Monday sought a response from Payal Abdullah, the estranged wife of Omar Abdullah, on a plea filed by the National Conference leader seeking divorce on grounds of cruelty.
A bench of Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia and Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah issued a notice to Payal Abdullah and sought her response within six weeks.
At the outset, senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Omar Abdullah, submitted that the marriage was "dead" as they have been living separately for the past 15 years.
The Delhi High Court on December 12, 2023, dismissed Omar Abdullah's plea seeking divorce, saying there was no merit in his appeal.
The high court had upheld the 2016 family court order refusing to grant a decree of divorce to Omar Abdullah, a former chief minister of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.
"We find no infirmity in the view taken by the family court that the allegations of cruelty were vague and unacceptable, that the appellant failed to prove any act which could be termed as an act of cruelty, be it physical or mental, towards him," the high court had said.
On August 30, 2016, the family court had dismissed Omar Abdullah's plea, holding that he could not prove his claims of "cruelty" or "desertion" which were the grounds alleged by him for seeking a decree of divorce.
"The petitioner (Omar) has not been able to explain a single circumstance to show that the supervening circumstances have erupted which has made it impossible for him to continue his relationship with the respondent (Payal).
"Rather, evidence shows that they were in continuous contact till the filing of the divorce petition," the trial court had said in its order, adding that "there is not an iota of evidence in regard to the circumstances which have prevailed to prompt the petitioner to file the divorce plea".
In his plea seeking divorce, Omar Abdullah had claimed before the family court that his marriage had broken down irretrievably and he has not enjoyed a conjugal relationship since 2007 and that the couple, married on September 1, 1994, was living separately since 2009. The couple has two sons who are staying with their mother.
The petition before the trial court also alleged that Omar Abdullah was subjected to "unreasonable conduct" by Payal Abdullah, causing pain and harassment to the politician.
In August, 2023, a single judge bench of the Delhi High Court had directed Omar Abdullah to pay Rs 1.5 lakh as monthly interim maintenance to his estranged wife.
It had also ordered him to pay Rs 60,000 each on a monthly basis for the education of his two sons who are pursuing law.
The high court's order had come on petitions by Payal Abdullah and the couple's sons against 2018 lower court orders granting her and them interim maintenance of Rs 75,000 and Rs 25,000 till they attained the age of majority, respectively.
The judge had observed that Omar Abdullah has the financial capacity to provide a "decent standard of living to his wife and children" and that he should not abdicate his duties as a father.
