New Delhi: Pets help humans to face emotional deficits of broken relationships, a magistrate court in Mumbai said, granting interim maintenance to a 55-year-old woman who sought maintenance citing her health issues and her dependents, three Rottweilers.
The court ordered the husband to pay an amount of Rs 50,000 per month to the wife as interim maintenance, from the date of filing of her application till the decision is taken on her main plea.
“Pets are also part and parcel of a decent lifestyle. Pets are necessary for human beings to lead healthy lives as they fulfil the emotional deficit that occurs on account of broken relationships,” metropolitan magistrate Komalsing Rajput observed.
The order was passed on 20 June, but became available only recently.
The woman had filed an application under Section 12 of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 to seek relief under this law.
As per the order, seen by ThePrint, the couple got married in September 1986 and have two daughters together. However, owing to certain differences, the husband sent the wife to Mumbai in 2021. The order also says that the wife has alleged that she faced domestic violence during the course of their marriage.
The woman has sought maintenance of Rs 70,000 per month, relying on her health issue, lack of source of income and her dogs.
She claimed that while separating, the husband assured her of providing her maintenance and other basic necessities. However, she now told the magistrate that the promise was not kept.
Refuting allegations of domestic violence, the man claimed that he had suffered losses in his business and would not be able to provide her maintenance.
The court, however, rejected the husband’s submissions. “Though it is denied that respondent has suffered business losses and is unable to provide maintenance, there is no concrete material produced to draw any such inference. Further, even if it is presumed that he has suffered any such losses, this fact itself is not enough to disown liability,” it said.
The man had also argued against his wife’s claim of maintenance for her three pets, but the court felt that this cannot be a ground to reduce the amount.
“The parties belong to a good financial background. The maintenance must be granted and that too with a lifestyle and requirements suitable to her,” the court observed.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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