The Supreme Court has decided to examine an appeal filed by siblings from Tamil Nadu against a Madras High Court order directing them to pay monthly maintenance of ₹2,500 to their “wayward” father.
The sister and brothers complained that their father drank, had illicit relationships and cared nothing for them when they were children who needed his care and protection.
It was their mother, with her meagre earnings from taking tuition and by pledging her jewellery, who helped them stay afloat and in school after the father abandoned the family.
They fought the odds on their own. With their mother, the siblings represented by advocate Haris Beeran, said they “surmounted all the obstacles in life and completed their studies with the help of various education loans”. The sister is a government school teacher and the brother is doing his doctorate studies.
The siblings argued they owed nothing to the man who had neglected his responsibilities as a father.
“Is a father, who has failed to carry on parental obligations and matrimonial duties, leading a wayward life, abandoning for several years, eligible to claim maintenance under Section 125 Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) from his children after he became a senior citizen?” the siblings asked the Supreme Court in their appeal.
A three-judge Bench led by Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana issued notice to the father. The Bench stayed the High Court order of January 19, 2021 directing the siblings to pay the monthly maintenance amount to their father.
The court took cognisance of the question of law on the liability of children towards a careless, even cruel father, under Section 125 Cr.PC.
As per 125 Cr.PC, a father or mother would be entitled to claim maintenance from their children who have “sufficient means, but fail to discharge their responsibility and either neglect or refuse to maintain them”. In such cases, the trial court should be satisfied that the parents are not getting any income and are unable to maintain themselves.
The father had claimed in the High Court that he was a heart patient.
The siblings countered in the apex court that their mother had raised a loan of ₹2 lakh to help the man start a business. He had abandoned the family after the income from the business increased.
