The Bombay high court has rejected actor Om Puri's petition challenging a family court order asking him to pay a monthly maintenance of Rs 2.90 lakh to his wife Nandita and minor son.
The family court had asked the actor to pay interim monthly maintenance of Rs 1.25 lakh to his wife and Rs 50,000 to his child. In addition, the court had asked him to pay Rs 1.15 lakh per month towards medical and education expenses of his son, which he had voluntarily agreed to.
Puri contended that the family court order was not fair as the maintenance ordered was not commensurate with his income.
Justice M S Sonak, while hearing Puri's petition, disagreed with the actor, saying the family court order was reasonable and had been passed while taking into consideration all aspects including his monthly income.
The court referred to Puri's income tax returns for the relevant period 2009 to 2012, which stated that his annual income was in the range of Rs 1.53 crore to Rs 3.34 crore.
The HC to interfere with the family court's order saying the maintenance amount awarded to his wife and son was not disproportionate to the actor's income.
Both the family court and the HC had observed that the maintenance to Puri's wife and son was granted on the basis of financial status of the parties involved. The family court had held that while the wife had no sufficient source of income, Puri had a sound financial background.
Puri had filed a divorce petition in 2012, while his estranged wife had filed an application for interim maintenance. Nandita said she is a housewife and has no source of income. She further claimed the actor earned around Rs 35 lakh to Rs 45 lakh a month.
Puri countered the claims and alleged that the petition was filed with the motive of usurping his properties and harassing him. He also said he was a responsible and dutiful father and husband and took care of all the educational expenses of his child.
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