Concealment of Income may prove costly for husbands, so be aware, and see the news below,
Man conceals income; to pay extra as maintenance to wife
PTI | 07:10 PM,Oct 18,2010
New Delhi, Oct 18 (PTI) A man's move to avoid paying Rs 10,000 monthly maintenance to his estranged wife by suppressing his earnings has boomeranged as a sessions court asked him to pay instead Rs 15,000 noting that he tried to conceal his income. "There appears to be clear attempt by the petitioner/ revisionist (husband) not only to conceal and suppress his income but also present an untrue picture of his occupation and financial status/background," Additional Sessions Judge Dharmesh Sharma said. The man, who avoided paying maintenance to his wife claiming that he was merely assisting his mother in the business left behind by his father, could not impress upon the court with his plea that he was getting Rs 2,000 per month. "The plea of the petitioner that the entire business left behind by his father belongs to his mother and that he is getting Rs 2,000 per month from his mother appears to be a Cock and Bull story," the sessions court said. It also noted that "surprisingly" in the written submissions the man claimed that he was doing a job in a shop in a market in Bulandshahar district in Uttar Pradesh and earning Rs 4,000 per month in order to sustain himself and his mother, which was contrary to his plea. The wife, who was living separately from the man since March 18, 2007, after their marriage in November, 2006, on the other hand, claimed he was a proprietor of a firm and was also engaged in wholesale business of grains, dry fruits and spices. She claimed he was a man of means and earning more than Rs 80,000 per month. He also owned two four-wheelers, besides having a driver and a host of servants, the wife said. "The reply by the petitioner as regards his financial status clearly demonstrates that the petitioner husband is taking the court for a ride and hell bent on denying his responsibility to maintain his wife," the court said. "In the facts and circumstances that the petitioner husband has tried to hide his income, if the income is assumed to be between Rs 50,000 to Rs 60,000, award of maintenance at Rs 10,000 is on lower side and therefore the maintenance is enhanced to Rs 15,000 per month," the sessions court said. The man had challenged the order of Metropolitan Magistrate passed in April this year to pay Rs 10,000 per month to his wife, allowing her application that had alleged that right from the time of marriage she has been ill-treated, tortured, harassed and humiliated by her husband and his family members for and on account of dowry.
