Maintenance laws were made to support the separated spouse (99.99% times the woman) financially, so that they could live with equal respect and dignity that they would have enjoyed while living in the matrimonial home during the course of marriage. However, since there is no defined timeline to end the tu-tu main-main (arguments) in the divorce proceedings, many women have made this as a flourishing business where they can keep demanding tax-free and lifelong income from their estranged husbands.
Most of the times, several women resort to forging documents, lying about their own income and assets and also cook up various sob stories in order to legally extort the maximum they can from the man. However, in a rarest of rare cases, a court n Gujarat has convicted a wife for six-years for providing false documents and lying under oath in her greed to demand more money in the name of maintenance.
Case:
- Jyoti Joshi married Yogesh Joshi in 1987 and the couple lived in Chalala town in Ahmedabad, Gujarat
- After things went sour between the couple, wife approached court in the year 2003 and secured Rs 1,100 by way of a settlement in 2004
- The maintenance was later increased to Rs 2,000 (1st enhancement)
- In the year 2007, the woman once again filed for enhancement of maintenance from Rs 2,000 to Rs 6,000 (thrice the amount), claiming that her husband was an accountant with the animal husbandry department in Rajkot drawing a salary of Rs 12,000 (2nd enhancement)
- To demonstrate why she needed this enhancement, Jyoti claimed she was pressed for money since she had to pay Rs 2,000 as rent to her aunt Saguna Madhak in whose home she was residing
- However, seven months before succeeding in getting the enhancement to Rs 6k in the year 2013, husband complained to the court that his estranged wife was lying under oath
- After verification for the same, the judge found this claim by the Yogesh, true
- The judge then ordered the court registrar to file a case against Jyoti under sections 193, 199 and 200 of IPC for furnishing false evidenceSections
- Jyoti’s trial began in 2014 and end last week in 2020 (It’s another story that court took took six years to find out whether the woman was paying rent or not)
- The court concluded that the wife was indeed guilty as she was not paying any rent to her aunt since the aunt never owned any property
A magistrate court in Amerli sentenced her to three years’ rigorous imprisonment for supplying false evidence in court under Section 193 of the IPC. It punished her with equal jail term under Section 199 of the IPC for giving a false statement in declaration which is by law receivable as evidence. The court ordered her to undergo both terms consecutively.
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Our Take:
- This order is just from a lower court and the woman will ensure her best to get it reversed from higher courts of the land
- The crux of the matter is not lying under oath, but allowing indefinte maintenance and enhancement of maintenance after separation
- If a fully abled-bodied woman is fit enough to fight and drag her maintenance case for nearly two decades, why don’t the courts ever question on her ability to work and earn for herself?
- Maintenance cannot be an asset building exercise, where the man slogs endlessly and wife keeps demanding her share with every increase in his income
- In most cases, courts overlook perjury done by women despite husband’s bringing hard evidences of false documents submitted by the woman
- This case is one of it’s kind, where the judge has taken action on the woman, however, there is zero fear in most wives because they never really get convicted for lying or making a mockery of the system
- It may not be a stretch to say that many male judges too refrain from giving harsh judgements against erring women, as they do not want to be blamed or charged later due to any adverse consequences for the same
ALSO READ –
http://voiceformenindia.com/in-the-law/wife-intentionally-filed-false-criminal-complaint/
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