Paid in Coins: Court Permits Man To Pay 11-month Settlement of Rs 55,000 to Wife

In a bizarre incident, a court in an unusual ruling permitted a man to pay his wife maintenance dues amounting to Rs 55,000 in one and two rupee coins. The man’s family brought the payment, which filled seven sacks, to the court after he was arrested for failing to make the required payments.

While his wife’s counsel termed it as “mental harassment”, the judge permitted the payment but asked the man to count the coins in court to make packets of Rs 1,000 each and hand them over to her at the next hearing on June 26.

The couple’s divorce case is being heard in a family court. The court had directed the husband, Dashrath Kumawat, to give the maintenance amount of Rs 5000 per month but he was not paying it for the last 11 months.

Dashrath, a resident of 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 55000 to give to his wife,” Raman Gupta, the advocate of the husband, told PTI on Tuesday.

He said that the coins were in the denomination 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. Till 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 the 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.