Kolkata man sent to prison after ex-wife refused to accept alimony in old currency

An elderly man in Kolkata has landed in jail after he paid his former spouse the alimony amount in the now-banned currency notes. The Indian government had demonetised currency notes of denominations Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 recently rendering them worthless overnight.

Bijoy Seal, 70, had been ordered to pay an alimony amount of Rs. 8000 every month by the court but had not given any money to his former wife in the last four years. It was by November this year that the total amount had accumulated to Rs. 2.25 lakh which resulted in his arrest.

However soon after his arrest, his brother collected around Rs. 2 lakh by taking loans and appeared before the court with the entire amount. As the Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 currency notes had ceased to be legal tender, the court refused to accept the money.

His ex-wife also stated that she would only accept new currency notes of Rs. 500 or Rs. 2000 and refused to accept payment via cheque and demand draft, according to reports.