Omar Abdullah’s Spouse Receives Supreme Court Notice Regarding Leader’s Divorce Petition

Omar and Payal Abdullah were married on September 1, 1994. However, they have been living separately since 2009. The National Conference leader, Omar Abdullah, approached the top court against a Delhi High Court decision that rejected his plea seeking divorce from his wife on the grounds of cruelty. A bench of Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Ahsanuddin Amanullah has sought Ms. Abdullah’s response on the petition within six weeks.

Senior Advocate Kapil Siba, appearing for Mr. Abdullah, told the court that the couple’s marriage was “dead” due to their 15-year separation. He requested the top court’s intervention under Article 142 of the Constitution, which has been invoked in the past to dissolve marriages. In 2023, a bench of Justices Sanjeev Sachdeva and Vikas Mahajan upheld a 2016 family court order that also refused to grant divorce to Mr. Abdullah. The court stated that the allegations of cruelty against Payal Abdullah were vague and ruled that Mr. Abdullah failed to prove his claims of “cruelty” or “desertion”.

The High Court order had stated that it did not find any flaw in the family court’s decision and agreed with its ruling. It mentioned, “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.” They share the custody of their two sons. The High Court had also directed the National Conference to pay Rs 1.5 lakh per month as maintenance to his wife in addition to 60,000 per month each to his two sons.