A man cannot hide his money to shed the responsibility of providing for his estranged wife and children, the Bombay high court said on Tuesday, and raised by 150% the maintenance to be paid by a ‘multi-millionaire’ who fabricated evidence to show that he earned only Rs8,000 a month.
Shyam Lamba was also told to return wife Neelam’s stree dhan (jewellery given to her by her family at the wedding), which was 168 grammes of gold. Shyam and Neelam got married on November 16, 2005. Their daughter was born on November 27, 2007. But the couple had separated in April 2007 after Neelam accused Shyam of cruelty.
Subsequently, the family court passed a decree of divorce by mutual consent and asked Shyam to pay Rs12,000 as maintenance since the date of filing for divorce, November 20, 2007.
According to Neelam, Shyam is a non-resident Indian, chairman of the Imperial Academy in Indore, owns properties in Mumbai, Delhi, Indore, and Dubai, runs a car export business in Dubai, and earns around Rs15 lakh a month. She asked for the maintenance amount to be raised to Rs30,000.
Shyam, on the other hand, said he only was an employee of the academy in Indore and earned Rs14,000 a month. Moreover, he claimed that he was now working as a web designer earning Rs8,000 a month, and asked for the maintenance amount to be reduced to Rs2,000 for his daughter alone as Neelam works in a call centre and earns Rs10,000 a month.
The court, however, said Shyam could not prove that the business in Dubai was not his. Justice PB Majmudar and justice RV More said Shyam had “fabricated” evidence. “It is unfortunate that the husband has tried to deprive his child and wife of reasonable amount of maintenance,” the judges said.
Holding that his ex-wife and child should be able to live in the same manner that they did while they were with Shyam, the court enhanced the maintenance amount for Neelam and her daughter to Rs30,000 a month.
(names changed to protect identities)
