Bombay HC: Father must pay maintenance even if children are adults, petition dismissed

A father cannot walk away from his responsibility merely because his children have become adults, the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court has made clear in a case concerning children's education and maintenance. The court said that if a son has turned 18 but has not completed his studies, the entire cost of his education cannot be placed on the mother alone.

The ruling was delivered by Justice Mehroz Khan Pathan. The case concerned a father living in Kamptee, who had challenged a family court's maintenance order in the High Court. Justice Pathan dismissed his petition and upheld the family court order as it stood.

The father had argued before the High Court that his son and daughter were both now adults, and that he therefore no longer had an obligation to keep paying maintenance. The High Court did not accept this argument. It dismissed the petition after examining the relevant legal provisions.

Maintenance laws were central to the hearing. Under Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, an adult child is generally not entitled to maintenance. However, the law makes a separate provision for a child who is unable to maintain themselves because of a physical or mental abnormality or injury.

On the other hand, Section 20(3) of the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act provides that an unmarried daughter who cannot maintain herself can seek maintenance from her father under the prescribed legal conditions. An unmarried daughter thus also has this right under the law.

In this case, the family court had on December 7, 2019, granted maintenance of Rs 7,000 a month to each of the two children. The father challenged that order in the High Court, but got no relief there either, and the amount stood.

The father is a teacher at a Zilla Parishad school, while the mother is a teacher at a municipal council school.

The ruling stresses the need to consider the children's age and the state of their education separately. A father cannot disown all his responsibilities solely on the ground that his children have become adults. The message from the court's decision is that disputes over children's education and maintenance will be decided according to the applicable legal provisions and the circumstances of the case.