In Anurag Vijaykumar Goel v. State of Maharashtra & Anr. (Crl. A. No. 5277 of 2024), the Supreme Court delivered a significant judgment on August 5, 2025, dissolving the marriage of the parties under Article 142 of the Constitution due to an irretrievable breakdown of marriage and clarified that LinkedIn profiles cannot be relied upon as valid proof of income.
The appellant-husband and respondent-wife were married in July 2015 but separated in April 2017 after persistent marital disputes. The respondent filed a complaint under Section 498A IPC in 2018, leading to criminal proceedings. During the pendency of multiple litigations, the parties entered into a settlement agreement on 01.09.2022 to mutually dissolve the marriage. However, the wife later withdrew from the settlement and demanded ₹12 crores as permanent alimony, despite having agreed earlier to accept the Mumbai apartment and clear its outstanding loan.
The Court noted:
- Allegations under Section 498A IPC were vague, general, and lacked specific instances.
- The appellant had resigned from his job and his LinkedIn profile could not be treated as conclusive proof of his current employment or income.
- The respondent-wife, being highly educated and previously employed, had the potential to support herself.
Key Directions of the Supreme Court
- Divorce Granted – Marriage dissolved under Article 142 on grounds of irretrievable breakdown.
- Property Settlement –
- The appellant to gift the Mumbai apartment (worth approx. ₹4 crores) with two parking spaces to the wife.
- He must clear all pending maintenance dues (~₹25.9 lakhs) before executing the gift deed.
- No Further Claims – No additional permanent alimony granted beyond the apartment.
- Closure of All Cases – All civil and criminal proceedings between the parties stand quashed, including the 498A IPC case.
- LinkedIn Not Income Proof – The Court refused to rely on LinkedIn to assess income, emphasizing the need for authentic financial records like income tax returns.
This ruling underscores the limited evidentiary value of social media profiles in income-related disputes and emphasizes a balanced approach to matrimonial settlements.
