A Delhi court has upheld the order of a magisterial court directing a chartered accountant to pay Rs 25,000 per month as maintenance to his estranged wife.
The court dismissed two separate appeals of the woman and the man seeking to enhance and reduce alimony respectively, saying they were without any merits.
"I am of the view that there is no illegality or infirmity in the order of November 24, 2014 and the magistrate has rightly assessed the income of the man as Rs 75,000 to Rs 80,000 per month and rightly granted maintenance of Rs 25,000 per month to the woman.
"Both the appeals filed by the woman and the man are without any merits and same are hereby dismissed," Additional Sessions Judge Naresh Kumar Malhotra said.
The magistrate had said that the Rs 25,000 amount to be given to the woman includes rent for a suitable accommodation.
The woman filed a case against her husband under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act alleging that after the marriage, he started demanding a flat, Honda City car, gold items and Rs 10 lakh cash and she was harassed for not bringing enough dowry.
Seeking enhancement of alimony amount, she claimed before the sessions court that the man, a chartered accountant, was earning over Rs two lakh per month and had an additional monthly income of around Rs 50,000 from his private practice.
She also claimed that he was having three properties in Delhi, Noida and Gurgaon.
The man, however, filed an appeal seeking to reduce the maintenance amount on the ground that he was earning Rs 95,000 out of which he pays loan instalment also and the magistrate had wrongly awarded the money.
He claimed that his wife was a teacher in a government school and was well educated so she can maintain herself.
