India, April 6 -- A sessions court on Saturday dismissed the appeal filed by Nationalist Congress Party (Ajit Pawar faction) leader and former Maharashtra minister Dhananjay Munde against an interim order directing him to pay maintenance to a woman who claims to be his first wife.

Additional sessions judge Shaikh Akbar Shaikh Jafar upheld the Bandra magistrate court's February 4 order, which had directed Munde to pay Rs.1.25 lakh per month to the woman, Karuna Sharma (also referred to as Karuna Munde), and Rs.75,000 per month to their daughter as interim maintenance under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence (DV) Act.

Munde had contested the magistrate's order, arguing that it was "arbitrary" and passed without proper applicat...