Widower in India forced to pay Rs3,000 maintenance

Lily

B.R
Staff member
New Delhi: A 65-year-old man will have to pay maintenance of Rs3,000 (Dh245) per month to his domestic help as she was living with him like a wife, the Delhi High Court has ruled, upholding the order of a family court.

The 30-year-old woman lived with the man along with her three young children. She stayed with him for three years before he turned her out in December 2009, prompting her to go to the family court.

High court judge Hima Kohli said: "The trial court has, on a prima facie view of the matter, reached the conclusion that as per settled legal principles, in proceedings under Section 125 (order for maintenance of wives, children and parents) CrPC, the standard of proof required to prove the validity of a marriage is not very stringent, and if it can be shown that the parties living as husband and wife, were being treated as married, then the same would be considered a valid marriage, sufficient to award interim maintenance to the dependants."

Justice Kohli said the court upheld the view of the family court and that the man's petition that he was not liable to pay maintenance was turned down.

Unaffordable

The man's solicitor appealed to the court that his client would not be able to afford the amount. But he was told it would not be accepted, as the sum of Rs3,000 per month was a ‘paltry amount.'

 
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