Father liable to maintain son till he becomes a major: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on Wednesday said that in a dispute between husband and wife the liability and responsibility of the father to maintain the child continues till the son attains the age of majorityThe top court which exercised its plenary power under Article 142 to confirm the divorce decree awarded to the husband and wife by the family court and the High Court directed that the child be provided Rs 50000 maintenance by the fatherIt also noted that the estranged couple has not been staying together since May 2011 and therefore it can be said that there is an irretrievable breakdown of the marriage between themA bench of Justices MR Shah and AS Bopanna said therefore in the facts and circumstances of the case and in the exercise of powers under Article 142 of the Constitution of India the decree passed by the Family Court confirmed by the High Court dissolving the marriage between the appellantwife and the respondenthusband is not required to be interfered with on account of irretrievable breakdown of marriageIt said that at the same time the husband an Army officer cannot be absolved from his liability and responsibility to maintain his son till he attains the age of majorityAlso read You are insulting judges SC warns ONGC of contempt over arbitrators feesWhatever be the dispute between the husband and the wife a child should not be made to suffer The liability and responsibility of the father to maintain the child continues till the childson attains the age of majority It also cannot be disputed that the son has a right to be maintained as per the status of his fatheriquest the bench saidThe top court noted that the mother is not earning anything and she is residing at her parental house at Jaipur and therefore a reasonablesufficient amount is required for the maintenance of her son including his education and other expenses which shall have to be paid by the husband irrespective of the decree of dissolution of the marriage between the wife and the husbandIt further noted that the amount which was being paid under the order passed by the Army authorities on November 15 2012 has also been stopped by the respondenthusband since December 2019The respondenthusband is directed to pay Rs50 000 per month with effect from December 2019 to the appellantwife towards the maintenance of the son as per the status of the respondent herein The arrears Rs 50000 per month from December 2019 to November 2021 shall be paid within a period of eight weeks from today it saidThe bench said that the current maintenance of Rs 50000 per month from December 2021 onwards be deducted from the salary of the husband by the Army Authorities which shall be directly credited in the bank account of the motherThe appellantmother is directed to furnish the bank details to the Army Authorities within a period of one week from today It is further ordered that if the arrears Rs 50000 per month commencing from December 2019 till November 2021 as ordered hereinabove is not paid by the respondentfather within a period of eight weeks from today in that case the recovery of arrears plus monthly maintenance shall be worked out by the Army Authorities and the same shall be deducted in equal monthly instalments from the salary of the respondentfather so as not to exceed 50 per cent of the total monthly pay and allowances of the respondent it saidThe bench said that having gone through the findings recorded by the Family Court as well as by the High Court on iquestcrueltyiquest and iquestdesertioniquest by the appellantwife we are of the view that there are concurrent findings recorded by the Family Court as well as the High Court on iquestcrueltyiquest and iquestdesertioniquest by the appellantwife which as such are on appreciation of evidence on recordIt said that the wife has made several complaints against the husband to his employer Army Authorities making serious allegations of extramarital affairsOn the basis of the complaints made by the appellantwife an enquiry was initiated by the Army Authorities and the Army Authorities exonerated the respondenthusband of the allegation of extramarital affairs it saidThe bench noted that the marriage between the couple was solemnised on November 16 2005 and the husband was serving as an Army Officer as Major It noted that out of the said wedlock the couple had one son born in 2008 who is now aged 13 yearsAfter the dispute arose between the couple the wife had filed several complaints against the husband before his employerArmy Authorities including the extramarital affairs of the husbandThe husband filed a case against the wife before the Family Court Jaipur In 2014 seeking a decree of divorce and dissolution of marriage on the ground of cruelty and desertion by the appellantwifeThe family court in its judgment dated May 19 2018 passed a decree for dissolution of the marriage between the appellant and the respondent on the ground of cruelty and desertion by the appellantwife The said decree was later confirmed by the High CourtThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever