Indian tennis ace Leander Paes recently moved to Mumbai sessions court in an appeal against a metropolitan magistrate court’s order in February which directed Paes to pay monthly maintenance of Rs 1 lakh to his former partner Rhea Pillai and monthly rent of Rs 50,000 if she moved out of their shared residence.
The Court had also mentioned that the tennis legend had “caused various acts of domestic violence" to Pillai.
ALSO READ: ISL 2022-2023: Mumbai City FC Hit Chennaiyin FC for Six at the Marina Arena
However, now Paes has put his plea in the Court, asking to quash and set aside the February order and seek to have a stay on it in the interim till his appeal is decided. It is likely that the plea will come up for hearing next week.
In his appeal, Paes mentioned that his relationship with Pillai was not in the “nature of marriage" and that he had remained cordial with her despite their relationship breaking down for the sake of their child, born in 2006.
He mentioned that the delay in filing the appeal was due to several reasons including his father’s health.
It is to be noted that this case dates back to 2014 when Pillai had filed a plea in the court under the Domestic Violence Act, alleging that she was subjected to domestic violence by Paes. She further said that the two of them moved into a relationship in 2003 and was living together from 2005-06.
Now, Paes in his appeal has said that his apartment is mortgaged and he is unable to take care of Pillai’s financial demands. Although he stated that he is taking care of his daughter’s financial responsibilities, but Pillai “splurged on herself". Further, his plea also mentioned that Pillai had got two flats from actor Sanjay Dutt as part of their divorce settlement, but even then she chose to continue to live in their shared residence, adding financial burden on him.
ALSO READ: Shiva Thapa Wins Historic Silver as India Finish Asian Boxing Championships with 12 Medals
Before the magistrate court, Paes submitted that Pillai’s plea was not maintainable under the Act since she was married to Dutt when they both started dating and living together and only got divorced from her previous marriage in 2008.
He further claimed that at the time when they started dating, he was unaware of Pillai’s marital status, to which the court said was difficult to believe.
The court then also stated that even though Pillai was still married legally when she began living with Paes, the fact of “existence of relationship beyond marriage is undeniable."
Comments
0 comment