By IANS,
New Delhi : A Delhi court has expressed concern over self-employed men involved in matrimonial discord cases not revealing their real income ahead of the fixation of maintenance for their estranged wives.
Metropolitan Magistrate Priya Mahendra in a recent order directed Dalbir, a farmer from Hamidpur in north Delhi, to pay a monthly maintenance of Rs.10,000 to his estranged wife and two minor daughters.
The court ruled that the real income of self-employed men involved in such cases never came to the surface.
“Unfortunately, in India, parties do not truthfully reveal their income. For self- employed persons or persons employed in the unorganised sector, truthful income never surfaces,” said the court.
The court’s remarks came after hearing that Dalbir’s monthly earning was between Rs.6,000-7,000. He told the court that he was a farmer and earned Rs.75,000 a year.
The court said that it was unbelievable that a man having so many properties in Delhi had an income of Rs.6,000-7,000 per month.
“It is important to note that even the minimum wage for an unskilled person in Delhi is Rs.6,000 per month,” said the court.
The court also considered the submission made by Dalbir’s estranged wife that he owned many properties and earned around Rs.8-10 lakh a year.
“The respondent is the owner of a number of lands and it is not possible for him to maintain such properties without having good income. The income of the respondent in the present case can be reasonably assessed as Rs.30,000-40,000 per month,” said the court.
The court directed Dalbir to pay Rs.5,000 a month to his wife and Rs.5,000 a month to his minor school-going daughters.
The court was hearing a petition filed by Dalbir’s estranged wife for maintenance. She told the court that they got married Feb 18, 1999. Later Dalbir’s family started torturing her for not bringing enough dowry.
After the birth of two daughters, Dalbir and his family abused her for not giving birth to a boy.
The woman told the court that she was turned out of her husband’s house Jan 27, 2009, along with her two daughters and denied any maintenance.