The wife of one of the accused in the Kanishka bombing case has refused to pay his legal bills from her home, which was once valued at USD 2 million.

Raminder Kaur Malik, 52, told the supreme court of British Columbia that since her husband Ripudaman Singh Malik's arrest in October 2000, it has been her position that she should protect her interests and those of her two teenage children.

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Ripudaman, a millionaire businessman, who has already received an undisclosed amount from the attorney general's ministry to fund his defence team, is seeking more financial aid.

Raminder said she had worked six days a week since she and her husband came to Canada in 1974. The couple then established what would become a multimillion-dollar joint real estate and business empire whose net worth dwindled to USD 11.6 million by December 2002, she told the court on Monday.

"I believe it is my right to protect what I've got for my old age and my children who are underage still," Raminder was quoted as saying in the Vancouver Sun daily.

"I'm not charged with anything. I still love my husband, but that doesn't mean I have to pay for all his defence."

Ripudaman, along with co-accused Ajaib Singh Bagri, face multiple counts including first-degree murder, conspiracy and other charges in the bombing of Air-India Flight 182 in 1985, in which all 329 crew and passengers were killed.

The two are also charged in the deaths of two baggage handlers who were transporting a suitcase that exploded at Tokyo's Narita airport the same day.

The court is conducting a hearing to determine whether taxpayers should continue to foot the bill for Ripudaman's team of six lawyers in one of Canada's most expensive trials that began in April and resumes September 8 after a summer recess.

While Raminder said she could not afford to pay her husband's defence from the home she has title to, she agreed with government lawyer John Waddell that she would share in any business losses and in her husband's good fortune if he had won a lottery.

"Fortunes are usually shared," she said.

Raminder said she decided in 1990 that the family home in Vancouver's upscale Shaughnessy neighbourhood should be in her name after her husband started spending money on charities.

However, her Ripudaman's donations were a benefit to his wife because she received the tax benefits, the court heard.

Raminder said she did 75 per cent of the work dealing with contractors and interior designers as the house was being constructed in 1989.

All five of the couple's children -- including a married son and his wife who are both lawyers -- live in the family home, along with another relative who doesn't pay any rent.

Raminder said the family's fortunes took a dive after her husband's arrest, with the clothing business's net worth plummeted to USD 2.6 million last year from a high of USD 5.8 million in 1996.