Decide maintenance plea afresh: sessions court to trial court

A sessions court here has directed a trial court to decide afresh a maintenance case in which it had awarded Rs 1,600 per month to a woman in a domestic violence case, saying the order was passed on the basis of "presumption of the income" of the husband.
Additional Sessions Judge Pulastya Pramachala set aside the magisterial court's order saying "it was expected that the trial court would have asked both the parties to file their respective affidavit and supporting materials. However, it did not do so.
"There is no limit of raising any presumption regarding the income of a person. Presumption in itself is not a very good criteria to assess the financial capacity of any party. To be nearer to the realistic figure, it is required that even presumptions are raised on the basis of some concrete material."

The judge noted that the trial court had presumed the man's income as Rs 8,000 per month, on the basis of prescribed wages under Minimum Wages Act for skilled labour.
"The impugned order is set aside and the case is remanded back to the trial court to decide the question of interim maintenance afresh, after seeking affidavit and supporting materials from both sides," the court said.