Court Rejects Munde's Plea Over Paying Maintenance

The birth of two children is not possible if their parents don't reside in a shared household, a sessions court recently said while rejecting the appeal filed by Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLA Dhananjay Munde against a magisterial court's order directing him to pay ₹2 lakh per month as maintenance to his estranged first wife, Karuna Sharma, and their daughter.

- HT Correspondent

MUMBAI:

In a detailed order dated April 5, which became available on Wednesday, additional sessions judge Shaikh Akbar Shaikh Jafar said, "Prima facie the respondent No. 1 (Sharma) was in relation with the appellant (Munde) in the nature of marriage and she has given birth to two children of the appellant, which is not possible without residing in shared household. Therefore, she is entitled to claim the reliefs as provided under the DV Act."

Rejecting Munde's claim that Sharma was not his legally wedded wife and, therefore, not entitled to claim maintenance from him under provisions of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence (DV) Act, 2005, the court said a woman in a live-in relationship akin to marriage is entitled to claim relief under the Act.