The Chandigarh court of Additional District and Sessions Judge RK Sharma witnessed some unusual drama on Tuesday when a man paid Rs 24,600 alimony to his ex-wife in Re 1 and Rs 2 coins. The court was eventually adjourned as the entire amount could not be counted. The man, an advocate at the Punjab and Haryana High Court handed a bag full of coins to his ex-wife as the monthly maintenance amount. The woman furiously said, "This is a new way to torture and harass me now. It is a mockery of law."
The husband-wife had parted ways in 2015, following which the court had asked the man to pay Rs 25,000 to his wife every month as alimony. The wife moved the high court when he couldn't pay up and was ordered by the court to pay Rs 50,000 due to his inability to pay for the previous two months.
The woman refused to believe that he did not have money and added that he has a lot of high-profile clients as he is a practising advocate, as well as a lot of properties to his name. The wife added that she, on the other hand, is in dire need of money. "What will I do with this money? No bank will accept this," she said.
The husband said, "I had been paying alimony to my wife previously also. But today, since I did not have currency notes, I brought the money in whichever form I could. I borrowed the coins from a religious institution where I performed seva."
"She is to be paid Rs 25,000 and I brought it in whichever form I could," he further added. Apart from the coins, the husband paid the remaining Rs 400 in Rs 100 notes.
The husband also justified his move by saying that it is not written anywhere that he has to pay in denomination of Rs 100 or Rs 500 or Rs 2,000 notes. He also got two of his juniors to count the money.
"I got married on February 8 that year. Our marriage could not last more than three months and in May, my husband filed a case for judicial separation. He withdrew the application for separation on February 8, 2015. Then in October 2015, he filed a divorce case and I moved an application seeking maintenance from my husband. It was in February 2018 when the High Court directed my husband to pay me a monthly maintenance. It was this money, which he today (Tuesday) brought in form of coins just to make a mockery of the court," the wife said.