Father under obligation to look after unmarried daughters: HC

Observing that a father is under an obligation to look after his unmarried daughters, the Bombay High Court recently directed a Hyderabad-based Central Excise officer to pay an amount of Rs 2 lakh each for the marriage expenses of his two daughters.

The HC has also directed him to pay an amount of Rs 3000/month to one of his daughters, who is unemployed.

The ruling came from a Division Bench of Justice Rajendra Savant and Justice Sadhana Jadhav who heard the appeals filed by Mahindar Shetty. He had challenged the verdict of the family court that had directed him to pay Rs 3 lakh to his daughters for their marriages.

The family court had also asked him to pay a lump sum amount of Rs 3 lakh towards his minor son’s education along with Rs 6000 per month for his maintenance.

The family court had, however, refused to issue any direction to Shetty for maintenance of one of his unemployed daughters and wife.

Shetty had challenged the directions compelling him to pay for his daughters’ marriage.

He contended that since both his daughters were graduates and working in multinational companies, there was no need to provide them with any financial aide.

After perusing the material on record, the judges upheld the findings of the family court that had considered the Section 20 of the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act.

The court had held, “It is the obligation of the husband/father to maintain the minor son and the unmarried daughters as also the aged or the infirm parents.”

Upholding the finding, the judges said, “Considering the obligation that Section 20 casts upon the father, the family court ought to have granted maintenance to one of the daughters, who at present is not gainfully employed.”

The judges further said, “In so far as the challenge to the award of a lump sum amount to the son, as also the daughters towards their marriage expenses, in our view, the award of the said sums (to the son and the daughters) can be said to be more than reasonable and therefore the father cannot make any grievance about the same.”

The Bombay High Court recently directed a Hyderabadbased Central Excise officer to pay an amount of Rs 2 lakh each for the marriage expenses of his two daughters. The HC has also directed him to pay an amount of Rs 3000/month to one of his daughters, who is unemployed.