A millionaire has been directed by a Delhi court to pay his estranged spouse a whopping ₹4 lakh maintenance every month with 15% raise every year for deserting her and their minor daughter.
While fixing the maintenance amount, the court took note of the fact that the husband had figured in the “Super Rich List” of a business magazine and the net worth of his business was around ₹1,000 crore.
Raise of 15%
Principal judge Narottam Kaushal awarded additional 15% raise per year in the maintenance amount for her and her daughter, noting that there was a “significant jump” in the income of the husband in two financial years which could not be ignored.
“The ranking of the family business in the ‘Super Rich List’ and assets of these firms at ₹921 crore published in Fortune 500 publication, indicates that the husband belongs to a very affluent business family of India,” the judge said, adding that “he is the only son” who is living with his father.
It noted that the man’s income for 2011-12, when the maintenance application was filed, compared to income for the year of decision (2012-13) by a magisterial court showed that his income had nearly doubled.
Significant jump
“Whether this radical change was the result of accounting jugglery or a result of concealment, is a question, which this court would leave unanswered. However, the jump is too significant to be ignored. The applicant [the woman] cannot be denied the benefits of this increased income of the husband,” the judge said.
The woman had in her application filed through advocate Manav Gupta alleged that she was thrown out of her matrimonial house in 2008, after which she had filed a petition in High Court for maintenance.
