Man asked to pay over Rs 2L per month as maintenance

A Delhi court has awarded Rs 2 lakh per month as interim maintenance to the estranged wife of a real estate consultant along with Rs 55,000 as rent, in a domestic violence case, saying she has huge "responsibility to take care of her special child".
Metropolitan Magistrate Ankita Lal awarded the interim maintenance to the woman, saying there were ambiguities in her husband's income certificate and the admitted facts in the affidavit from which adverse inference could be drawn.
"In view of the income affidavit filed by the parties... keeping in mind that the aggrieved (woman) is unable to work due to the medical conditions of her child, (she) also has a huge liability enshrined upon her to solely take care of the special child.

"I deem it fit to award a sum of Rs 2 lakh per month to the aggrieved as a interim maintenance for herself and her minor child," the magistrate said.
The court also directed the husband to pay Rs 55,000 as rent in lieu of the alternate accommodation to the woman, holding that "it is an emboldened duty of respondent (husband) to provide an accommodation to his legally wedded wife".
The court directed the husband to pay the interim maintenance amount from the date of the filing of the petition by the wife on July 17, 2012 and clear the arrears within six months.

The woman, a post-graduate in fashion designing from a reputed college, had moved an application under the Domestic Violence Act seeking interim maintenance for herself and her three-year-old special child suffering from various ailments.

Opposing the woman's plea, the husband, who claimed to be working as a real estate consultant, said that he has been paying voluntarily Rs 10,000 per month towards the treatment of the child.
In his income affidavit, the husband 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 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.

"It appears from the bank statements that the respondent is trying to keep 'zero balance' in his accounts either by withdrawing the amount or transferring to some other accounts. The fact has not been explained by the respondent or his counsel," the court said, while directing him to keep paying Rs 10,000 to his wife apart from interim maintenance awarded.