Published on: 05 December, 2025 14:04 IST
The Gujarat High Court has temporarily suspended a Family Court order directing Ahmedabad resident Dipak Agrawal to pay a one-time alimony of ₹45 lakh to his estranged wife, Nikita Agrawal. Dipak Agrawal, a granite trader, challenged the payment, arguing it was improper to grant maintenance to a wife accused of the grave crime of murdering his mother.
Case Background
Accusation: Nikita Agrawal was arrested in October 2020 for allegedly killing her mother-in-law, Rekha, by striking her with an iron rod. The incident reportedly followed repeated verbal disputes between Nikita and Dipak.
Imprisonment & Bail: Nikita was pregnant at the time of the incident, later gave birth while in prison, and spent over two years in jail before being granted bail.
Divorce Proceedings: Dipak filed for divorce in 2021 on the grounds of mental and physical cruelty, citing the alleged murder. The Family Court granted the divorce in August this year but ordered the alimony payment based on Dipak’s income.
High Court Observed- Dipak’s counsel, Rahil Jain, argued that this was not a simple divorce case, but one where the husband had been subjected to not only emotional but physical cruelty by the wife by killing his mother.
The HC bench, comprising Justice Sangeeta Vishen and Justice Nisha Thakore, issued a notice to Nikita and placed the alimony payment direction (Para 4 of the Family Court order) in abeyance (stayed) until the next hearing.
The matter is scheduled for further hearing in January.