AHMEDABAD: A sessions court in Ahmedabad has increased the maintenance amount payable by a Rajkot businessman to his estranged wife from Rs 10,000 to Rs 50,000 a month, following evidence that he attempted to hide his wealth. The businessman attempted to portray himself as an account assistant in a bid to escape his financial obligations, only to be exposed by business listing websites revealing his ownership of a factory.
The court also revised the monthly rent for the wife’s accommodation from Rs 3,000 to Rs 10,000.
The couple, married in 2017, faced a turbulent relationship leading to the wife’s departure from her matrimonial home in 2018 and return to her parents in Ahmedabad. She filed a case against her husband and in-laws for domestic violence. A family court initially ordered the husband to pay Rs 5,000 in monthly maintenance.
The husband claimed to earn Rs 54,000 a year as an account assistant at an office in Gondal market yard in Rajkot. However, the wife argued that he and his family are affluent, owning several parcels of land and multiple residential properties, as well as a factory producing protein powder. The husband denied these claims.
In Dec 2022, a magisterial court set the maintenance at Rs 10,000 and the monthly rent for residential accommodation at Rs 3,000. Both parties challenged the ruling in a sessions court, with the wife seeking an increase and the husband asking for a reduction. Despite his claims of ignorance regarding his father’s properties and businesses, the court discovered that the businessman’s name, business, address, and contact details were listed on multiple business listing websites. When questioned about this, he insisted that he was not the owner of the factory, a claim the court did not find credible. The court highlighted discrepancies in the husband’s testimony. “From his cross-examination, it appears that he is trying to hide his status…,” it said.
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