Lawyer fees claimed at interim maintenance

You can demand receipts and agreement from that lawyer true copies as evidence and argue. Take help from the local lawyer in this regard.

Her claim of lawyer's fee of Rs.10 lakhs will become a butt of joke for the day and give hilarious ambience in the otherwise tension filled court room.  Do not worry.  Show the chart of legal service authority's fee prescribed for the advocates and if she is entitled even for that, then the court will grant her that much of litigation expenses in matrimonial dispute.  The litigation expenses are not related to the family's status or the standing of the advocate at the bar.  Othewise every one would crawl to engage Ram Jethmalani, Arun Jaitley ilk who mint the money not commensurate to the services they provide, but for their connections with the judiciary.

Claim of 10 lakhs towards lawyer fees in her divorce petition itself illustrates the worthiness of her lawyer.Don't bother about it.

Thanks all for your response. Advocate Chandrashekhar has suggested fee chart for advocates from legal service authority. Can you please send me a link for such a chart,if any, in the internet. The court case is in Bandra, Mumbai, Maharashtra. 

Her claim for lawyer fees will get outrightly rejected by the court. If wife needed money to hire a lawyer she could have taken services of Govt Pleader. Its not responsibility of husband to pay for such expenses which wife will use against him to prolong litigation. 

You should reject her claim upfront

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

I was going through various interim orders of Mumbai Bandra family court e-court site and found that at interim stage itself court approves some lawyer fees. I know that typically 20% to 33% of husband's net income is determined as alimony, but could not see any reasoning in these orders about approved lawyer fees.

For example, a woman was approved Rs 5000 per month as interim maintenance and she has got an approval of Rs 8000 as her lawyer fee at INTERIM stage itself. Her husband's net salary per month is Rs 75000. 

Fees of Advocates/Counsels depend upon their popularity and seniority having proven success in records in a particular field of law but  10 lakhs of rupees is not believable in any case save and except in murder cases or decoity cases..

She is making mockery of judiciary by putting unreasonable claim.  This is a clear case of abuse of law.  This can be highlighted and her dark color behind her maintenance claim can be brought to light before the court.  Ask your advocate to give a fitting counter to this.

Our able masters said very good words above, one question though,

If she can afford lawyer for Rs 10 lakh then she can spend such amount of money upfront, which proves her capabality to earn as well as ability to maintain herself. 

Can the interim maintenance appplication be rejected on these grounds?