Court orders lawyer to pay interim maintenance to estranged wife, daughter

Ahmedabad: A local court in Ahmedabad has ordered a practising advocate to pay Rs 30,000 per month maintenance to his estranged wife and daughter. The woman has also accused her husband and her in-laws of domestic violence.The marriage of the couple in this case took place in 2010, and they have one daughter. They have been living separately for the last 10 years. The wife left the matrimonial home alleging harassment by her husband and in-laws. She later filed a divorce petition, which was dismissed by a family court.The woman filed a complaint with a magisterial court under the provisions of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act and sought Rs 50,000 per month interim maintenance for herself and her minor daughter.She submitted that her husband was a reputed lawyer with a healthy practice. He has many properties at different places, she stated in her petition. She further claimed that her husband owned a flat and five shops in Mumbai, and has ancestral agricultural land in Rajasthan. He also earns well by renting his properties, she added.After hearing the woman’s counsel, the court said that the case might take long to conclude, and it was in the interest of justice that a lump sum amount was awarded towards interim maintenance. The court ordered the lawyer to pay Rs 30,000 per month to his wife towards maintenance, the daughter’s education expenditure and house rent.