Child entitled to maintenance under Hindu Marriage Act till he is financially independent: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court recently held that children pursuing education are entitled to maintenance under the Hindu Marriage Act till they become financially independent..A Division Bench of Justices Rajiv Shakdher and Amit Bansal ruled that the intent of Section 26 of the Hindu Marriage Act is to provide maintenance for the education of children and the education of a child does not get over upon the child attaining the age of 18 years."In our considered view, a child who is pursuing his education would be entitled to maintenance under Section 26 of the HMA even after he attains the age of majority, till the time he is pursuing his education and is not financially independent," the Court held. The Bench said that at most, the child would have cleared his high school (Class 12) at the age of 18 years and would be looking to join a college/ university for further studies. "It is only after completion of a college/ university degree and in some cases, completing a post-graduation/ professional degree, would the child be able to secure employment. In fact, it can safely be concluded that, in today’s competitive world, gainful employment may be feasible only after the child has pursued education beyond 18 years of age. It is in this context that Section 26 of the HMA [Hindu Marriage Act] provides that the Court may pass orders with respect to ‘education of minor children, consistently with their wishes, wherever possible’. Therefore, the scope of education in Section 26 of the HMA cannot be restricted only till the time the child attains the age of 18 years,” the Court said. In a detailed judgement, the Court also held that the family court does not become functus officio after withdrawal of the divorce petition and it can decide applications filed under Sections 24 and 26 of the Hindu Marriage Act even after the withdrawal..The Court rendered the decision while dealing with cross-appeals filed by husband and wife challenging the family court order for providing maintenance of ₹1.15 lakh per month to wife and son and ₹35,000 per month to the son till the time he attains the age of 26 years or becomes financially independent, whichever is earlier.The family court further said that the ₹35,000 to be paid to the son will be subject to increase by 10% after every two years.After hearing the case, the High Court granted the following reliefs:- The plea by wife was allowed to the extent that the interim maintenance granted to the wife under Section 24 of the HMA was enhanced from ₹1,15,000 to ₹1,45,000 per month from the date of filing of enhancement application i.e. February 28, 2009 till the date of withdrawal of divorce petition by the Husband i.e. July 14, 2016. - The Husband shall also be liable to pay interest at the rate of 12% per annum towards the shortfall in the maintenance amount for the concerned period. The interest shall be calculated on the amount of deficit from the time it became due in a particular month and till the time it is paid. - The arrears of maintenance to both the wife and the son along with the interest shall be paid within a period of eight weeks..Senior Advocate YP Narula and advocate Ujas Kumar appeared for the husband.The wife was represented by advocate Anu Narula. .[Read Judgment]