Man to pay maintenance of Rs 1.8 Lakh per month to wife, son

A Delhi court has awarded Rs 1.8 lakh per month as interim maintenance to the estranged wife and an ailing child of a real estate consultant along with Rs 45,000 as rent, in a domestic violence case.

Additional Sessions Judge Raj Kapoor, while modifying a magisterial court's order which had directed the man to pay Rs two lakh interim maintenance and Rs 55,000 as rent to his wife and kid each month, noted that the man was already paying Rs 10,000 per month for the treatment of his four-year-old son.

"Since appellant (man) is already paying Rs 10,000 per month and cashless facility for the child treatment has also been managed, therefore, I am of the view that ends of justice shall be met if impugned order is modified to the extent that interim maintenance amount of Rs two lakh be reduced to Rs 1.8 lakh..." the judge said, while also reducing the rent amount from Rs 55,000 to Rs 45,000.

It also directed the man to clear the dues within one month from March 17 this year, when the order was passed.

The court asked him to continue paying the amount till the final disposal of the case in trial court "precisely for the reason that exact income of the parties can be ascertained only during the course of trial."

The man had approached the sessions court against a magisterial court's November 2014 order awarding the interim maintenance to his wife saying she has huge responsibility to take care of her special child.

In his appeal against the trial court order, the man had contended that his wife was highly qualified and had concealed her income.

He had also informed the court that his office provided him with a cashless facility at the hospital where treatment can be immediately sought at private hospitals without any need to make any payment at that time.

He had further claimed that the woman was using the son's illness as a "prop" to corroborate her exorbitant demands.

Countering the claims of the man, the woman's counsel Balendu Shekhar, said his client was a "destitute lady" and had the responsibility of looking after her bed-ridden child suffering from neurological disorder.

The woman, a post-graduate in fashion designing from a reputed college, had moved an application before a magisterial court under the Domestic Violence Act seeking interim maintenance for herself and her special child.

In his income affidavit, the husband had claimed his net pay was around Rs 2.6 lakh per month and he had several properties in his name.

However, his claim was rebutted by the wife who had said that his salary slip mentions him to be a director of the company and Income Tax returns for the assessment year 2013- 2014 showed that his salary was Rs 4.44 lakh per month.