The court ordered the man to pay the amount saying that the persons involved in such cases do not disclose their real incomes and in this case too, the husband appears to have done so.
"Unfortunately, in India, parties do not truthfully reveal their incomes. For self-employed persons or persons employed in unorganized sector, truthful income never surfaces. Therefore, in determining the interim maintenance, there cannot be mathematical exactitude.
"....In the present case also, the man is a self-employed person and it appears that he has not disclosed his true income," Metropolitan Magistrate Priya Mahendra said.
The court directed the man, a resident of Hamidpur village here, to pay Rs 5,000 per month to his estranged wife and give Rs 5,000 per month to his two daughters considering that he is the owner of number of lands and it is not possible for him to maintain such properties without having good income.
"Being an able-bodied man, the man has the legal and moral duty to maintain his wife and minor daughters. Therefore, the aggrieved person (woman) and her children are entitled to interim reliefs," it said.
The court's order came on a plea by the man's estranged wife who had sought the alimony saying she was "maltreated" by her husband and in-laws for not bringing sufficient dowry and also for not bearing a male child. (More)