Shashwati Chowdhury
Published on: July 24 2022 at 18:23 IST
In a matter involving the father’s maintenance payment to a woman, the Supreme Court said that daughters are not liablility.
A Bench comprising of Justices D.Y. Chandrachud and A.S. Bopanna made the observation on Friday after the man’s lawyer said that the woman is a liability, according to news agency PTI.
Justice Chandrachud observed that daughters are not a liability while referring to Article 14 of the Constitution, which deals with equality before the law.
The applicant’s counsel stated that after April 2018, no money was paid toward the arrears of maintenance for the daughter, which was Rs. 8,000 per month, or for the wife, which was Rs. 400 per month, as noted by the Supreme Court in October 2020.
The Supreme Court then directed the man to pay his wife and daughter Rs. 2.5 lakh within two weeks.
When the case was eventually set for hearing in May of this year, the Bench was informed that the wife had passed away the previous year.
When the matter came up for hearing on Friday, the Bench was informed that the woman is a lawyer and has cleared the prelims examination for a judicial services examination.
The woman should focus on her exams in order to become independent of her father, said the apex court.
After learning that the woman and her father haven’t communicated in a while, the court also recommended that they get together.
The court ordered the dad to give his daughter Rs. 50,000 by August 8, 2022.