Court asks man to pay Rs 20 lakh to son

Court asks man to pay Rs 20 lakh to son

NEW DELHI: A boy has been granted approximately Rs 20 lakh as maintenance by a Delhi court, payable by his NRI father who allegedly deserted his wife and child and remarried abroad.

Metropolitan magistrate Jyoti Kler awarded maintenance of Rs 35,000 per month to the boy and asked the father to pay arrears from the date his estranged wife and the mother of the boy filed the petition in court in 2009. The court has given the husband nine months time to arrange the arrears.

In a contested battle ranging for over five years the wife had sought maintenance from her husband on the ground that he deserted her. According to the petitioner, the couple tied the knot under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 but the husband allegedly deserted the wife and later obtained an ex-parte decree from Canada, where he resettled. The wife through her lawyer Prabhjit Jauhar argued that since the marriage was solemnized under the HMA, the union couldn't have been dissolved by a decree of a foreign court, in response to the husband's argument that the Delhi court has no locus to hear the dispute since the matrimonial house was located in Canada where a court has already granted divorce decree.

Since the petitioner was found to be earning Rs 70,000 per month, she didn't seek maintenance for herself, but argued the father should be made liable for the upkeep of the minor son who is now being raised by her. The wife further argued she is entitled to some relief of residence as she has to pay rent.

The court, after considering the arguments and the salary of the NRI father which was found to be around 3,800 Canadian dollars, awarded the amount towards maintenance and residence.

According to the wife the husband never disclosed his plans to settle in Canada at the time of marrying her in 2001. She claimed that his family put pressure on him to migrate to Canada. Later, when he managed to shift outside the country, she accompanied him and stayed with him for some time during which she was allegedly ill treated and abused, even though she was pregnant, the petition alleged.  http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Court-asks-man-to-pay-Rs-20-lakh-to-son/articleshow/20950406.cms