May 6 , 2019 ;
New Delhi: When a wife said she had exhausted Rs 2 crore paid by her estranged husband as a part of their divorce settlement and wanted Rs 5 lakh as monthly maintenance, a Delhi court said it was “baffling” and “intriguing” how such a hefty amount was spent in a span of just one-and-a-half years.
“She cannot be permitted to seek interim maintenance solely because her husband is rich and affluent...,” said principal judge Manoj Jain, refusing to pass any order in favour of the wife. The court further observed that though the wife would have been accustomed to a relatively lavish lifestyle, she was required to divulge complete details to show under what circumstances she “blew” such a huge amount in such a small duration.
The husband’s counsel, advocate Prabhjit Jauhar, contested the claims and argued that the wife had not turned up for filing the second motion of divorce, and more importantly, not given details of how she spent the money.
The woman had not given an account of the expenditure, the court said. And in the absence of such a detail, it became difficult for it to decide if she was justified in spending the entire Rs 2 crore or if she was indeed short on funds or on the verge of vagrancy. “She withholding the details of how the money evaporated in thin air goes on to suggest that she might be having a profligate attitude,” it noted.
The estranged couple, having two minor children, had filed for divorce after a marital discord and signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in April 2015. According to the MoU, the husband had to pay Rs 5 crore towards a full-and-final settlement to the wife. At the time of filing the first motion of divorce, the husband had paid the wife Rs 2 crore. The rest of the amount was supposed to be paid at the time of filing the second motion six months later. The wife, however, filed the plea in November 2017 alleging that the man did not adhere to the MoU and deprived her of her share of the settlement.
The wife also maintained that till May 2016, when the first motion of divorce was allowed, she was being paid Rs 5 lakh towards the monthly maintenance of her children, household expenditure and her personal expenses. She had therefore sought monthly maintenance of Rs 5 lakh besides Rs 36 lakh in arrears, which was taken as Rs 3 lakh monthly in case of any default as per the MoU.
The court, however, pointed out that even if Rs 3 lakh maintenance was considered, the Rs 2 crore amount should have sufficed for five-and-a-half years.
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