Tables turned: Hubbies claim alimony

Sudhakar Rao / TNN / Jul 27, 2006, 23:06 IST

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Today some men are willing to admit that they have no independent income of their own and are dependent on their wives' income.

VADODARA: If you think only women had the privilege to claim maintenance following break-up of marriage, then you may be mistaken. Lately, there have been cases where husbands have begun demanding maintenance from their wives.
Unlike earlier when demanding maintenance from wife was considered below dignity, today some men are willing to admit that they have no independent income of their own and are dependent on their wives' income.
Maintenance can be claimed for paying expenses of the proceedings and till the matter is pending in the court or if the divorced wife remarries. Rajesh Parikh,who was working as a lab assistant did not mind getting Rs 3,000 every month from his wife Sunanda.
The court ordered maintenance to be paid to Parikh after he claimed that he is dependent on her and has no other source of income. The problem in their relationship began when Sunanda, who worked as a manager in a private bank got a rise in her salary.

"The wife in this case was very ambitious and earned Rs 25,000 per month, which made the husband jealous and differences cropped up," said senior lawyer Malti Wani.
Advocates say that nearly 10 per cent of divorce cases have husbands demanding maintenance ranging from Rs 5,000 per month to Rs 25,000. Maintenance could be claimed under the Hindu Marriage Act, if husband and wife decide to part ways and apply for divorce in court.

In another case, Raj Kumar's wife, a chartered accountant, was ordered to pay him Rs 8,000 per month by the court when they split up. Raj Kumar claimed maintenance from his wife stating that he was earning less than her.
"Such cases mostly come from those belonging to well-to-do families where the wife is career-oriented and ambitious woman," says Shabiya Sindhi, a senior lawyer who regularly gets such cases.
Like in the case of Suresh Bajaj who earned a decent salary as software engineer but he claimed maintenance from his wife Radhika after she applied for divorce. Radhika, also an engineer, earned four times as much did her husband.
Suresh was granted 'maintenance' by the court after he showed that he has no property or source of income for supporting legal expenses.

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