Tennis Player Leander Paes has moved the Mumbai Sessions Court challenging the Rs 1.5 Lakh maintenance to his ex-wife Rhea Pillai. According to the plea, Rhea has lied being in relationship with Paes since 2005, although she was married to Sanjay Dutt until 2008.
In February this year, a magistrate’s court had asked Tennis star Leander Paes to pay ₹1 lakh monthly maintenance and ₹50,000 monthly rent to Pillai in a domestic violence case. The plea had ruled that Pillai was still legally married when she began living with Paes. However, Paes advocate Prasanna Bhangale counteracted the order on the basis of the Domestic Violence Act. Leander Paes Challenged Maintenance to Pillai, stating that she was married to actor Sanjay Dutt till 2008.
The Tennis star stated, she has falsely alleged being in a relationship in the nature of marriage with Paes since 2005, as she was married to Sanjay Dutt until 2008. Incidentally, in Pillai’s domestic violence application, her relationship with Paes ending is clearly mentioned. Also, she maintained that Paes was just cordial with her for the sake of the child. November 17 is the date of hearing. Earlier, Pillai admitted that she and Paes had been in a relationship since 2003 and they lived together from 2005 to 2006 and had a child in 2006.
After Mumbai Sessions Court granted Pillai’s request, Leander Paes challenged Maintenance
Also, in the plea, Pillai mentioned about the relocation to Bandra, Paes’s father joined them. Soon after the friction started and Paes sought custody of his daughter in the Family Court in Bandra. Pillai filed a court lawsuit under the Act in 2014, alleging that Paes had abused her. The Mumbai court took into consideration the many difficulties women undergo when they enter into live-in relationships.
“Sexual relationship beyond the ties of marriage is not widely accepted even today also. Its existence across societies is not in dispute. Several times it posed situations leading to conflict between law and morality. Such relationship put parties into peril. Particularly, a female partner, is always at the receiving end. A patriarchal society caused various injustices to a female partners involved in such relationships beyond marriage. The available legal measures for such female partner are also found to be inadequate resulting in her exploitation and abuse.”
The Magistrate’s Verdict
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