Refusing to interfere in the order of a Dadar metropolitan magistrate court that granted Rs. 21,000 as monthly maintenance to a wife in a domestic violence case, a Mumbai sessions court has said that such a grant to a woman who used to earn Rs. 30,000 before marriage is not unreasonable.
The woman’s husband Ajitpal Singh, 32, had challenged the magistrate’ order of January 2020 and stated that he had lost his job as he could not perform due to differences between the duo. He said that there is nothing to show she is entitled to the amount. Additional Sessions judge UM Padwad said in his judgment though Singh claims his performance was marred by marital unrest and he had to tender his resignation, that does not absolve him of the liability to maintain his wife.
The court further said that it is to be noted that the wife too was earning before marriage and used to get a salary of Rs. 30,000 which was not spent on anything other than herself. Judge Padwad opined that the parties apparently are well educated and used to lead a generous life and this being so, the grant of Rs. 21,000 to a lady who once had Rs. 30,000 to spend over herself cannot be said to be unreasonable.
The wife Simran Kaur, 28, had claimed monthly interim maintenance of Rs. 1 lakh stating that her husband earned Rs. 34 lakh annually. The salary slips produced by him before the court showed that he earned Rs. 90,000 monthly between January and September 2019.
The court also said that prima facie there was domestic violence on the woman and that she had quoted numerous instances of these and simply because they are denied by her husband and his family it cannot be said that the allegations are without substance.