Court modifies maintenance order, asks husband to pay Rs 6,000

Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) K S Pal reduced the monthly interim maintenance to be paid by the man, terming the the magisterial court order to pay Rs 13,000 as "unjustified" and "excessive" and asked the man to pay Rs 6,000 till final disposal of his wife's plea for alimony.

"I am of the view that the impugned order dated February 10, 2012 passed by metropolitan magistrate (MM), mahila court, granting interim maintenance to the petitioner/respondent at Rs 13,000 per month with effect from the filing of petition under section 125 of the CrPC is unreasonable, unjustified and excessive," the ASJ said.

The order came on the man's plea against MM's order. The man had contended in his plea that the magisterial court had not considered some vital facts while directing him to pay Rs 13,000 a month as interim maintenance to his wife.

During the argument, his counsel drew court's attention to the two agreements executed between the couple in 2000 and 2002 respectively as per which the man had agreed to pay a sum of Rs 6,000 per month to her as maintenance and had also given her an accommodation to stay.

The counsel also told the sessions court that while assessing his client's income as Rs 50,000 a month, the MM had not taken into account the fact that even his son and his family members were dependent on that income.

The woman, on the other hand, contested the plea saying that the interim maintenance was rightly granted by the MM after considering the averments made by both the parties as well as the material placed on record. (More)