Court asks Raghubir Yadav to pay Rs 40,000 maintenance to wife

New Delhi: Noted actor and TV artist Raghubir Yadav has been asked to pay a monthly alimony of Rs 40,000 to his estranged wife by a Delhi court, which dismisses his plea to lower the amount. The sessions court upheld the order of the magisterial court which had directed Yadav, who has featured in films like Massey Sahib, Lagaan, Peepli Live and Gandhi to Hitler, to pay the maintenance amount to his estranged wife, saying there was "no infirmity or illegality" in it.

"I find no infirmity or illegality in the order of the trial court, which in my opinion is going to help the petitioner (Yadav) rather being adverse to him, in fixing the maintenance at a lower rate for earlier period and fixing at higher rate for further period. Accordingly, revision petition is dismissed," Additional Sessions Judge Anuradha Shukla Bhardwaj said. Yadav had moved the sessions court against the October 2011 order of the magisterial court asking him to pay the maintenance, saying he was doing well in commercial cinema. During the proceedings, Yadav told the court that his annual income of Rs 2.25 lakh which was opposed by his wife`s counsel who said it was unbelievable that a person of the actor`s status would be earning as low as Rs 20,000 per month. The court noted that the magistrate had assessed and presumed Yadav`s income to be Rs 1,25,000 per month. "Further taking cognizance of the fact that petition was filed in 2006 and interim maintenance was allowed in 2011, she (magistrate) assessed the income at a lower rate for the earlier years. "Trial court could have stopped at assessing the income at Rs 1,25,000 and awarding Rs 40,000 to the respondent no.1 (Yadav`s wife)," the court said. It also said that the amount deposited by Yadav as arrears of maintenance by the court`s June 2012 order be also released to his wife.