Major, dependent daughter entitled to maintenance from father: Bombay HC

Justice Bharati Dangre of the Bombay High Court has held that maintenance can be claimed from a father for his financially dependent daughter, even if she is a major..The Court was dealing with an appeal against a Family Court order passed in February, 2017. This order had stated that the mother of a major daughter could only claim maintenance on behalf of a minor child, who was dependent on her..The appellant, a school teacher named Agnes Lily Irudaya, had applied for maintenance from her estranged husband on behalf of her 19 year old daughter, an unmarried engineering student..The application was made due to Agnes’ inability to cope with the expenses for her daughter’s education and day to day needs..Appearing for Agnes, counsel Sumangala Biradar informed the Court that the petitioner had two major sons. However, whereas one son was unemployed, the other was re-paying his educational loans. Hence, neither was in a position to render her any financial assistance..In her order, Justice Dangre admits that there is no specific provision contained in Section 125 of the Criminal Code of Procedure (CrPC) for the grant of maintenance to a major daughter..However, she took note of the Supreme Court judgement in Noor Sabha Khatoon v Mohammed Qasim. In this case, while deciding the rights of children of Muslim divorcees, the Court had held that children have the right to claim maintenance from the father till they attain majority, or are able to maintain themselves. In the case of a daughter, the same could be claimed until she is married..The Court also relied on Vijaykumar Jagdishrai Chawla v Reeta Vijaykumar Chawala, wherein it was held that a major daughter who is financially dependent can claim maintenance from her father. This was based on a combined reading of Section 20 of the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act and Section 125 of the CrPC. This finding also finds support in the Supreme Court case of Jagdish Jugtawat v Maju Lata..Further, the Vijaykumar Chawla case had laid down that the mother is competent to pursue such relief, if the daughter is residing with the mother and dependent on her for her needs..Therefore, Justice Dangre ruled in favour of the appellants, holding that,.“…it is clear that the unmarried daughter though attained majority is entitled to claim maintenance from the father.” .However, in the present case, the daughter was competent to pursue maintenance herself. Nevertheless, the Court found no fault with the mother applying for the relief in order to meet the expenses of her child..On this aspect, the Court opined that once it is conceded that a major unmarried daughter is entitled to claim maintenance, the hyper technical objection that she herself ought to have proved her dependence could be discharged. It was observed,.“Even if the daughter would have filed the proceedings, the parameters for deciding her entitlement would have been the neglect and refusal of the father to pay for the educational expenses and other expenses of the daughter … In order to avoid multiplicity of the proceeding, no fault can be found in the application preferred by the mother claiming maintenance.“.For these reasons, the matter was remanded back to Family Court with directions to adjudicate properly, after applying the parameters for the grant of maintenance..Read Order below: