Ex-MLA ordered to pay Rs 20k/mth to wife

PATNA: Disqualified JD (U) legislator Ravinder Rai will have to pay Rs 20,000 per month as maintenance to his wife who has filed a case of domestic violence against him. Patna civil court judge Arun Kumar gave the order while hearing Rai’s anticipatory bail petition.
Rai and wife Babita Yadav traded charges against each other in the court while the proceeding was on.The judge ordered Rai to deposit the sum in his wife’s bank account and submit the counterfoil in the court within 10 days.
Babita (28), who hails from Jind in Haryana and married Rai in 2008, filed an FIR against husband in June this year, alleging regular physical and mental torture. Mother of two children, she alleged Rai beats her, demanding more dowry from her parents.
Rai had, however, termed the accusation as “baseless” and alleged a conspiracy to defame him in the run-up to the state assembly election later this year. The House membership of Rai, who was elected from Mahua in Vaishali district, was terminated for alleged anti-party activities. He is among the four JD (U) leaders who had openly rebelled against chief minister Nitish Kumar and has been supporting former Bihar chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi.