Can a husband's resignation from directorships in family companies, followed by a plea of financial incapacity, be treated as a subterfuge to evade maintenance?

Yes. Where the husband resigned from directorships in companies connected to the family business in order to escape his financial liabilities towards maintenance, the claim of financial incapacity is nothing but a subterfuge to evade his legal and moral obligations, and his portrayal of lacking financial resources to provide accommodation is an artificial veil sought to be created to escape liability.

Constitution of India — Art. 142 — Matrimonial dispute — Irretrievable breakdown of marriage — Quashing of all proceedings inter se, including those against relatives and legal counsels — Permanent alimony and child support — Custody and visitation rights — Financial capacity — Constitution of India — Art. 142 — Irretrievable breakdown — Complete justice — Quietus to litigation — Held: Where a decade of vindictive and vexatious litigation has left the marriage dead for all practical purposes, this is a supremely fit case to exercise jurisdiction under Article 142 of the Constitution of India. That jurisdiction extends not merely to annulling the marriage but to terminating all proceedings initiated and pending inter se, including those against the relatives and legal counsels of a spouse. (¶56, 62) Maintenance — Financial capacity of the husband — Resignation from directorships — Qualifications of the wife — Held further: That the wife is highly educated and professionally qualified cannot by itself absolve the husband of his matrimonial, paternal, moral and legal responsibility to provide for his wife and children. Resignation from directorships in family companies to escape financial liabilities renders the claim of financial incapacity a subterfuge and an artificial veil created to escape liability. (¶58, 59, 60) Custody — Relocation of the children by the mother — Permanent alimony — Balancing of equities — Held further: No oblique motive can be imputed to a mother who relocates the children away from a city of intense hostility and multiple litigations, such a step being nothing else but a protective measure. To balance the equities a consolidated sum was awarded in full and final settlement of permanent alimony, maintenance, child support and litigation expenses; appeal disposed of. (¶57, 61, 62)

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