Nagpur: In a significant ruling, a Vadodara family court has sentenced a 40-year-old Nagpur-based businessman to 2,200 days (approximately six years) in prison for failing to pay ₹18.6 lakh in maintenance to his estranged 36-year-old wife. This decision stems from three separate recovery cases filed by the wife.

The couple married in June 2012 and separated in 2014. Since their separation, the wife has been residing with her parents and brother in Vadodara, caring for their now 11-year-old daughter. In December 2017, the family court directed the husband to pay monthly alimony of ₹15,000 to his wife and ₹10,000 to their daughter. Despite this order, the husband, who operates a successful sweetmeat business in Nagpur, neglected these payments, leading to accumulated arrears.

Advocate Mahendra Parmar, representing the wife, highlighted that the husband’s total outstanding dues amount to approximately ₹33 lakh, resulting in a cumulative nine-year prison term for non-payment. On Wednesday, the husband was produced in court and convicted in three separate applications:

• 1,230 days for ₹10.3 lakh in pending maintenance.

• 360 days for ₹3 lakh.

• 630 days for ₹5.3 lakh.

The sentences are consecutive, meaning the husband must either pay the entire ₹18.6 lakh to secure release or serve the full prison term.

The court’s actions followed its March 29 directive to file an FIR against Nagpur police officials for allegedly failing to enforce previous court orders regarding the husband’s arrest. Subsequently, Maharashtra police apprehended the husband and presented him before the Vadodara family court, leading to the current sentencing.