Man Loses Rs 1.25 Crore Property to Daughter-in-Law After Son Abandons Her, Rules Supreme Court
The Supreme Court recently ordered the Registrar of the Delhi High Court to sell six shops from a building owned by Mohan Gopal, the father of Varun Gopal, and put the money in a fixed deposit. This amount will be used to pay maintenance dues to Shilpi Srivastava, Varun’s first wife.
Shilpi, from Chhattisgarh, approached the court after her husband left her eight years ago, just two years after marriage. Varun later remarried in Australia and has two children from his second marriage.
After their separation, a Bilaspur family court granted Shilpi a monthly maintenance of Rs 1 lakh. She later filed a cheating case against Varun and his family, which led Varun to apply for anticipatory bail. His request was rejected, and he refused to attend further hearings in India.
As a result, Varun’s father Mohan Gopal was arrested and spent 10 months in jail during 2018–19.
In 2019, Shilpi requested the Chhattisgarh High Court to increase her maintenance to Rs 1.27 lakh per month, claiming Varun earns Rs 4.25 lakh monthly, and she should receive 30% of his income.
When she did not receive the increased amount or the arrears (total unpaid maintenance) of about Rs 1.25 crore, she moved to the Supreme Court. She asked the court to transfer the shops owned by her father-in-law to her so she could earn rent from them. She estimated she could earn Rs 60,000–65,000 monthly in interest from the arrears and Rs 55,000 rent from the gym in the building.
During the hearing, the father-in-law argued he was not legally responsible for paying maintenance, as that was the husband’s duty.
But the Supreme Court, led by Justices S. Ravindra Bhat and Aravind Kumar, disagreed. They said both Varun and his father had continuously avoided following court orders, and both were responsible for the full payment.
“The actions of Varun and Mohan Gopal show continuous disobedience. Both must ensure full payment,” the judges stated.
As a result, the Court ordered the sale of the six shops to cover the maintenance dues, ensuring justice for Shilpi Srivastava.
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