After the American dream went sour for many software professionals from Bangalore in the face of a major economic slowdown, now they are caught between the pink slips and their personal lives. These professionals are flooding the city’s Family Courts with appeals to cut monthly maintenance charges payable to their wives in divorce cases.

Speaking to The Pioneer, Mohan (name changed), a senior software professional, who was given a pink slip from a high profile multinational US IT company few months back, said he has appealed to the court to cut the monthly maintenance by 70 per cent as he was not in a position to pay.

Mohan attributes this to the recession and wants the judge to take cognisance of his appeal. “I was working in the US for a multinational IT company as a team manager for the past seven years. I have been entangled in a divorce case with my wife, who hoisted all false cases against me. Adding to this I have been asked to quit owing to the recession and I am back in Bangalore in search of a job. I have appealed to the court to condone the monthly maintenance by 75 per cent due to my current financial difficulties. I hope court will take note of my plea,” said Mohan.

Another senior programmer Sathya Murthy (name changed), who was sacked from an Indian IT bellwether and is fighting a divorce and dowry harassment case, has appealed to the family court to reduce the monthly maintenance by at least 50 per cent.

“I was working with an Indian IT company and I have been given a pink slip. I am fighting a divorce and dowry case against my wife, who is a doctor. I cannot pay Rs 20,000 monthly maintenance and I have appealed to the court through my lawyer to reduce the maintenance to Rs 10,000,” he said.

According to Katti, chairman of the Save Indian Family Foundation, a nationwide networked NGO dedicated to promote the cause of gender equality and family harmony, more than 13,000 divorce cases were pending in the family courts in Bangalore till date. He says more than 45 per cent of these cases were filed by the IT and BPO professionals.

He says the pink slip culture has hit IT professionals hard and demanded that IT companies must give a letter of certificate that a person was sacked because of the recession. This will help him to plea before the courts to reduce maintenance charges in divorce cases, he said.

Kumar Jahgirdar, president of children’s Rights Initiative for Shared Parenting and also a senior member of Save Indian Family Foundation, feels that the courts should be more lenient in dealing with divorce cases of those who have lost their jobs or subjected to pay cuts.

Krishna Kumar, a senior lawyer, who is fighting the divorce cases of many IT professionals also wants the court to take cognisance of the situation. “I feel courts must take suo motu cognisance of recession and reduce the maintenance according to job loss or salary cuts.” said Krishna Kumar.c