May you be one for whom his mother is a Deva. May you be one for whom his father is a Deva. May you be one for whom a guest is a Deva. May you be one for whom his teacher is a Deva.
May 12, 2019:
Chhattisgarh HIgh Court has found a litigation unfortunate wherein a son against was challenging the order of Tribunal directing payment of Rs.10,000/- per month as maintenance amount to the step mother.
A bench of Justice Sanjay K. Agrawal has passed the order in the case titled as Uttar Kumar Bhoi vs Smt. Surekha Bhoi on 12.03.2019.
In an application filed by the respondent herein claiming maintenance from her son i.e. the petitioner herein, the Tribunal made a summary inquiry and found that the property left by her husband is being possessed by the petitioner herein and the respondent herein has been left alone and she is unable to maintain herself and therefore the Tribunal granted an amount of Rs. 10,000/- per month from the date of application considering the income of the petitioner who is a government teacher having sufficient income to maintain his step-mother.
Mr. Manoj Kumar Sinha, learned counsel for the petitioner, would submit that learned Tribunal is absolutely unjustified in granting maintenance to the respondent which is shockingly high and the petitioner is incapable of making payment of the said amount. He would also submit that the petitioner is ready and willing to maintain the respondent by keeping her with him but she is not ready and willing to stay with him and therefore the order passed by Tribunal deserves to be set aside.
Quoting Taittiriya Upanishad, the High Court observed "The whole idea is that we should respect, serve and worship our parents. This is a very unique teaching of our tradition".
After taking note of Mahabharata and Ramayana, the High Court commented "Traditional norms and values of the Indian society has laid stress on providing care for the elderly and in our country, the mother is worshiped as the goddess Lakshmi (Goddess of prosperity) of the house. The Sruti (Taittiriya Upanishad) emphatically declares: “MATRU DEVO BHAVA” (Let thy mother be thy God)".
Ultimately the High Court rejected the challenge of the son and held "In view of the aforesaid analysis and in view of the well renowned mandate of our scriptures, as noticed herein-above, the petitioner is duty bound to maintain his ailing and aged mother. The writ petition is accordingly dismissed with the above-stated observation with a cost of Rs. 2,000/- on the petitioner payable to the respondent herein".
Read the Order here:
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