MUMBAI: A family court has ordered a US-based Indian heading a consultancy firm to pay his city-based former wife alimony even though she herself works and earns Rs 65,000 a month.
The court while giving the order took into account the huge income disparity after coming to know that the husband earns an equivalent of Rs 1 crore annually in the US. The court relied on several judgments which observed that the woman was entitled to live the lifestyle that her husband was enjoying.
While the court directed the 39-year-old man to pay Rs 25 lakh as one-time alimony, a similar amount will have to be paid to help his former wife and their 10-year-old son buy a flat. Additionally, the man will also have to pay Rs 25,000 per month for his son till he attains maturity. He has also been ordered to pay legal expenses amounting to Rs 50,000 to the woman.
The court observed that the child currently living in a rented accommodation was entitled to live in his own house and were it not for his parents' divorce he would have been residing in comfort in the US.
The estranged couple was granted divorce by mutual consent on April 8, 2009.
Along with the divorce petition, the woman had also filed a petition seeking permanent alimony of Rs three crore. The husband had filed a counter claim opposing this on August 14, 2007.
The woman alleged that her estranged husband owned a house each in Bandra, Kandivali and had an ancestral house in Dadar. She claimed that he had also bought a house in Bhandup and owned property in the US. The woman submitted that she has no roof over her head and had to pay a monthly rent of Rs 35,000. She further stated that she and her son were entitled to the same lifestyle that she and her son enjoyed earlier and which her estranged husband was currently enjoying.
The man, however, filed a counter claim saying the woman was not entitled to claim maintenance as she is employed, has an MBA degree and was capable of making a living. He further said that he was not in a position to provide her any amount for shelter. He denied earning Rs 1 crore annually and also claimed that he only owned a flat in Bhandup and that he had purchased it after procuring a loan.
The court said that even if the man was earning Rs 60 lakh after deducting his expenses he would save about Rs 24 to 25 lakh annually. "Hence, ordering an amount of Rs. 25 lakh to be paid to the woman as permanent alimony would be just and reasonable taking into account that she is also employed with and getting a salary of Rs.65,000 per month," the court observed.
The court also directed the parents to work out an arrangement for the father's visitation rights to meet his son. "The access of the father to the child is very important for his growth and he must have connection with his father. Therefore, access should be provided freely so that the love between the father and the son grows in the paramount interest and welfare of the child," the court observed.
https://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2014-02-12/community/47268440_1_25-lakh-permanent-alimony-crore
