Since the court did not have enough time for counting the coins, the case was adjourned till July 27. Since the court did not have enough time for counting the coins, the case was adjourned till July 27.

The court of Additional District and Sessions Judge R K Sharma was left surprised in the post-lunch session on Tuesday when an advocate of the Punjab and Haryana High Court brought a bag full of Re 1 and Rs 2 coins and placed it in front of everyone. Two persons helped him drag the bag inside the court room.

The advocate had come to the court for giving Rs 25,000 as alimony to his wife. The couple is undergoing a divorce proceeding in the court. The case is under litigation since 2015. Although the court asked him to get the coins converted into currency notes, the advocate cited his inability to do so. His wife, on the other hand, alleged that he was making a mockery of the court by bringing coins worth Rs 25,000. She added that it was another tactic of her husband to torture and harass her.

Since the court did not have enough time for counting the coins, the case was adjourned till July 27. The advocate said, “I had been paying alimony to my wife previously also. But today (Tuesday), since I did not have currency notes, I brought the money in whichever form I could. I borrowed the coins from a religious institution where I performed seva.”

The advocate added there is no provision in law to give maintenance in any particular form. “She is to be paid Rs 25,000 and I brought it in whichever form I could.” When the court adjourned the case, the advocate’s two juniors dragged the bag into the court staff’s room and started counting the coins. The total value of the coins turned out to be Rs. 24,600. Then the advocate added four Rs 100 notes in the bag. Since the court had called it a day by that time, the advocate took his bag and told the onlookers that he would bring money in the same format on the next date of hearing.

During the ongoing litigation between the couple, the Punjab and Haryana High Court had ordered that the man shall pay a maintenance of Rs 25,000 per month to his wife. The woman said she was living in Australia and came back to India in 2014. “I got married on February 8 that year. Our marriage could not last more than three months and in May, my husband filed a case for judicial separation. He withdrew the application for separation on February 8, 2015. Then in October 2015, he filed a divorce case and I moved an application seeking maintenance from my husband. It was in February 2018 when the High Court directed my husband to pay me a monthly maintenance. It was this money, which he today (Tuesday) brought in form of coins just to make a mockery of the court,” the woman told Chandigarh Newsline.

📣 The Indian Express is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@indianexpress) and stay updated with the latest headlines

For all the latest Chandigarh News, download Indian Express App.