The Madras High Court Bench here has refused to interfere with an order passed by a lower court last year directing a person who was a lawyer by qualification and a businessman by profession to pay maintenance of Rs. 30,000 every month to his estranged wife.
Dismissing an appeal preferred by him challenging the order for payment of alimony passed by a Family Court here on November 27 last year, a Division Bench of Justices M. Sathyanarayanan and J. Nisha Banu held that the amount could not be termed exorbitant in view of his economic status.
He.got married in 2006 and was father of a six-year-old girl residing with her mother. According to his wife, her parents had gifted 130 sovereigns of jewellery and Rs. 1.5 lakh-worth household articles at the time of marriage. The woman claimed that another 25 sovereigns were presented after the birth of the child besides other jewels presented during various ceremonies, and that she had even discontinued her Master’s degree course in Information Technology after her marriage.
Stating that her husband had driven her out of the matrimonial house about two years ago without any reason and also filed divorce proceedings before the family court in 2014, the woman laid a claim for maintenance of Rs. 1 lakh a month on the ground that her husband was a man of means.
Pointing out that he was the son of the former chairman of Usilampatti municipality, she said his was a well-known family in the municipality and they owned several acres of farm lands and shopping complexes apart from showing interest in various other businesses and taking dealership of a popular two-wheeler brand. In reply, the petitioner rebutted the claim of owning agricultural lands. Though he admitted to have taken dealership of a motorcycle brand after spending considerable amount of money, he claimed that he was yet to make any profit in the business and hence not in a position to pay alimony as claimed by his wife.
However, the judges rejected his plea considering the fact that he hails from a reputed family which was reportedly involved in several businesses whereas his wife lacks any independent source of income.
