The single-judge bench of the Andhra Pradesh High Court held that as per Section 20 of the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, a Hindu is legally bound to maintain his children, whether legitimate or illegitimate, it is purely a moral obligation.
Brief Facts:
The factual matrix of the case is that the Plaintiff is the daughter of the Defendant, and after a difference arose between the Plaintiff’s mother and the Defendant, the Plaintiff’s mother brought up the Plaintiff, and she claimed maintenance for herself and children against the Defendant. The plaintiff has been studying for a B.Sc., final year in Arts College, and her mother is unable to maintain her. Now, the plaintiff is to be married. So far, the defendant has not paid even a pie towards marriage expenses to the plaintiff despite the plaintiff‟ ‘s mother protesting many times personally and through mediators. The Defendant is an Ex MLA and is receiving pension and other allowances of Rs.20,000/- per month and also acquired several landed properties. Plaintiff filed the suit against Defendant seeking maintenance as well as marriage expenses of Rs.5,00,000/-. The trial court awarded Rs.2,000/- per month towards maintenance to the plaintiff. Aggrieved by this, the defendant preferred a present appeal.
Contentions of the Appellant:
The Appellant contended that the judgment passed by the learned court below is contrary to law and the court below failed in considering that the respondent is not his daughter, there is no relationship between father and daughter, and she is not a legal heir and is not entitled to any relief as there is no marriage between the appellant and P.W.2. It was furthermore contended that the Plaintiff’s mother was the concubine and there are no issues through the Defendant.
Observations of the Court:
The Hon’ble Court observed that after attaining the majority, the Defendant/ Appellant is paying any maintenance to the Plaintiff/Respondent. Furthermore, the paternity of the plaintiff is disputed by the appellant. The material on record shows that in the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) of the plaintiff, the name of the plaintiff‟s father is mentioned as ‘Sri P.V. Raghavulu’, i.e., the defendant herein.
The court noted that as per Section 20 of the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, a Hindu is legally bound to maintain his children, whether legitimate or illegitimate, it is purely a moral obligation.
The court furthermore noted that the plaintiff is currently well-established and employed by the State Government as a Gazetted Officer in the Revenue Service, while the appellant, who is around 91 years old and, because of old age, is suffering from various ailments.
Based on these considerations, the court modified the monthly maintenance of Rs.2,000/- granted by the trial Court as the plaintiff is entitled to monthly maintenance of Rs.1,000/-.
The decision of the Court:
With the above direction, the court partly allowed the appeal.
Case Title: P.V. Raghavulu V. Paramata Sripallavi
Coram: Hon’ble Mr. Justice Venuthurumalli Gopala Krishna Rao
Case No.: First Appeal No: 194 of 2007
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