A Mumbai businessman was directed by a sessions court to pay monthly maintenance to his estranged wife. The court noted three domestic help employed by the businessman’s family and said that it indicated his high standards of living.
Noting that three domestic help indicated the high ‘living standard’ of a Juhu-based businessman, a sessions court in Mumbai ordered him to pay Rs 50,000 as monthly maintenance to his estranged wife.
The court said that employing three domestic help revealed the living standard of the man and his parents.
“The applicant [wife] is also entitled to live her life with the same living standard,” the court observed.
Judge S U Baghele of the Dindoshi sessions court also went through the old Income Tax proof submitted in the court.
The man earlier claimed in the court that he had suffered huge losses in his business due to the introduction of GST. The court noted said, “Even, if it is presumed that the husband suffered losses subsequently in his business, the wife cannot be made to starve or to live a substandard life on account of the same.”
The Case
The woman had filed a case of domestic violence against her husband in 2019 and stated that needed a monthly maintenance of Rs 2 lakh. She claimed that the family income of her husband was Rs 25 crore.
The Magistrate court had directed the husband to pay interim maintenance of Rs 50,000 per month. It was in appeal against the order that the businessman approached the Dindoshi sessions court. He told the court that there was no domestic violence and that everything was being provided, as required by the woman.
The sessions court said the “burden to show the income was certainly on the husband, who could have produced necessary income proof before the court below, in respect of which, he appears to have failed.
“the wife is entitled to live with the same status as that of her husband. It is not in dispute that the husband and his parents are the owners of certain properties and cars. Thus, the husband does not have any dependent upon him, except the wife,“ the court said.
CREDIT : India Today
