NEW DELHI: A UK-based hotelier has been asked to pay maintenance of Rs 1.5 lakh a month to his estranged wife, who is now living in India. She had been abandoned by him in London a few months after he married her four years ago.
Metropolitan magistrate Shivali Sharma also directed the NRI to pay arrears of Rs 45 lakh to his wife calculated from the date of filing of the petition by the wife in 2009. "I have heard the submissions made on behalf of the petitoner and perused all the documents filed on record by her. From the documents, the financial status of the husband is clearly established... I hereby award maintenance of Rs 1.5 lakh a month in favour of the petitoner and against the man from the date of filing of the petition. This amount shall include maintenance for the minor child," the judge said. It relied on the documents submitted by the woman's counsel, Prashant Mendiratta, that showed that the man owned a hotel in London and also had other residential property.
