I will pay Rs 13 lakh to the court: Raghubir

Actor Raghubir Yadav, who has challenged a magistrate’s order directing him to pay monthly maintenance of 40,000 to his estranged wife Purnima Kharga, has been asked by a court in Delhi to clear the dues he owed to her in two months or his plea would be dismissed. The additional sessions judge TR Naval has granted time till August 9 to Raghubir to pay arrears to his estranged wife observing that his revision petition would be heard only after he complies with the order of the magistrate.
Says the actor, who recently did a Bengali movie, “This case has been dragging on for long. In between, we had tried to go for mediation. I had initially said that I was ready to pay up 25 lakh to finish off the case. But she wanted a house. We found that we could get one on Meera Road in our budget. But then, she again changed her version and wanted 1 crore and 10 lakh. That’s too much and the maximum I could go to was 45 lakh. But she didn’t want that and moved court. I have just cleared a backlog of 4 lakh. But by August 9, I have been asked to pay up 13 lakh and have been ordered to pay 40,000 per month as maintenance. There is no divorce petition filed as of now and hence, there is no question of alimony. I’ll pay 13 lakh to the court and then await the decision on maintenance issues."
The actor’s partner, Roshni Achreja, says all this legal trouble has taken a toll on Raghubir’s health. “There are countless cases in India where men are just harassed and have to resign to fate. A couple should behave with each other properly. Fighting acrimoniously doesn’t take one anywhere. That’s why people prefer living-in rather than getting married. I don’t think I want to marry Raghubir. I am happy being his partner and looking after our son, Abir,” says Roshni.
While the legal troubles continue, Raghuvir is busy recording a song for Manoj Tiwari’s Tera Din Ki Baraat. “Post- Peepli Live, anyone who directors him in a film also wants him to compose something and record a song for it too,” Roshni says.
On her own professional front, Roshni has just shot for a film with Adil Hussain that’s based on Anita Nair’s Lessons in Forgetting. “I am from NSD and I have done television. This is my first film as a protagonist. In the movie, I play a woman whose husband walks out on her and how she gets on with her life. The director, Unni Vijayan, is an FTII passout and has done a good job while adapting such a detailed novel into a film,” she concludes.