In an unusual case, a man named Dashrath Kumawat was granted permission by a Jaipur court to pay his wife Rs 55,000 over the course of 11 months in one- and two-rupee coins as maintenance after his family brought the money to the court after his arrest for non-payment. The money was packed in seven sacks, weighing 280 kg.
While the counsel for his wife objected to it, terming it “mental harassment”, the judge allowed the payment but asked the man to count the coins in court to make packets of Rs 1000 each and hand them over to her at the next hearing on June 26, according to lawyers from both sides.
The couple’s divorce case is being heard in a family court. The court had directed the husband, Dashrath Kumawat, to pay the maintenance amount of Rs 5000 per month, but he had not paid it for the last 11 months.
Dashrath, a resident of the Harmada area in Jaipur, was arrested on June 17 after family court number 1 issued a recovery warrant against him for non-payment of maintenance.
“Since the husband refused to give the amount, the police arrested him. The family court was closed due to holidays, so he was produced in the link court of Additional District Judge (ADG) number 8.”
“In the court, the family members of Dashrath reached with coins worth Rs 55,000 to give to his wife,” Raman Gupta, the advocate of the husband, told PTI on Tuesday.
He said that the coins were in the denominations Re 1 and Rs 2 and were stuffed in seven sacks.
The advocate of his wife objected to this, but it was argued on behalf of the husband that these coins are legal tender and no one can refuse to accept them.
“The court then allowed the husband to give the coins after counting them on the next hearing in the family court on June 26. Until then, the coins will remain in the custody of the court. The husband will have to count the coins and make packets of Rs 1000 each before handing them over to the wife in court,” he said.
Wife Seema Kumawat’s advocate, Ramprakash Kumawat, said that giving coins to the woman was “equal to mental harassment”.
“It was done in a preplanned manner just to harass the woman. However, the court has permitted him to give the coins,” he said.
