Mumbai: Elderly woman ordered to pay rent to estranged husband

MUMBAI: Bombay high court has upheld a Pune family court order directing an elderly woman to pay Rs 20,000 monthly rent to her estranged husband for staying in a flat jointly owned by him and the couple's son.

Justice Rajesh Ketkar said there was an agreement between the couple that she would live in Kalyaninagar flat by paying rent, while he would continue to stay in the Koregaon Park apartment, jointly owned by the couple.

The woman had challenged the family court order, contending since she was still the man's legally wedded wife, she was entitled to reside in the apartment. She cited her son's email allowing her to stay in the flat without paying rent and also sought recourse under the Domestic Violence Act.

The HC dismissed the claims. "Notwithstanding the Domestic Violence Act, there was an agreement between the parties to the effect that the woman would pay Rs20,000 per month to the (husband)," said the judge.

The court rejected the woman's claims about a subsequent settlement and that he had agreed to not charge her rent. "If at all there is a settlement before the court, obviously it has to be in writing and the court has to record satisfaction about the settlement being legal and valid. No such material is produced to that effect," the judge said. The woman's submission of her son's email, too, was not accepted. There is no agreement between the couple over rent waiver, the court ruled.

A proposal for reconciliation floated by the court was rejected by the couple. The judge suggested the man could shift to the Kalyaninagar apartment, while the woman could live in the Koregaon Park flat. The husband was not agreeable and suggested his wife could come and live with him in the Koregaon Park flat. The woman rejected the offer.

The couple, in their 60s, had got married in 1981. In 2013, she sought divorce under the Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act. The man filed an application seeking rent for the Kalyaninagar flat. The woman said she had agreed to pay rent as, otherwise, her husband would not allow her to live there.