Woman wants Rs.2L a month to split

Woman wants Rs.2L a month to split

A Pune couple who married in 2007 and settled in Boston are fighting divorce and maintenance proceedings in Indian courts through their parents, while they continue with their separate lives in the US. On Thursday, a division bench of justice V M Kanade and justice P D Kode reserved their order on a petition of the woman for an increase in the maintenance from Rs15,000 to Rs2 lakh. The man works with an IT company and the woman is a dentist and qualified MBA. They were married in Pune, according to Hindu rites, in May 2007, and the couple moved to the US. Within a month and a half, the wife returned to India to attend to her ailing grandmother. Soon afterwards the grandmother passed away. The husband flew down to attend the last rites and then returned to the US leaving his wife behind. Apparently, the husband refused to take his wife along with him. He subsequently filed for divorce in a Pune family court and was represented by his parents, who have the power of attorney. The matter was dismissed. Soon afterwards, the wife filed for restitution of conjugal rights that was allowed. However, the order was not executed. While deciding the application on February 18, 2008, the family court also ordered a monthly maintenance of Rs15,000. In between this tragic separation, the woman decided to go to the US for further studies. She has taken up research work and is living in rented accommodation. Therefore, she petitioned the high court seeking an increase in the maintenance amount. Her advocate has argued that “the husband is settled in the US for many years. He has his own house and a Lexus car, and his income is sufficient to pay the maintenance amount demanded.” The man has opposed the petition saying his wife “is a qualified doctor”. Besides, “in the US there is an earn-and-learn system in place and so she should not demand this high maintenance. Since both are equally qualified, the demand made by the wife is incorrect.” The man has also challenged the dismissal of the divorce plea and the restitution of conjugal rights allowed to his wife.