Parents are a responsibility of married daughters too: Bombay High Court

Mumbai, May 11: In a unique case where a couple filed an application seeking maintenance from their eldest son under Section 125(1)(d)of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which compels a person to maintain their parents, the Bombay High Court has said that a married daughter too should share the responsibility of her parents.

In this particular case of Vasant vs. Govindrao Upasrao Naik, Criminal Revision Application No. 172/2014, the High Court rejected the pre-conceived notion that a married daughter has obligations only toward her husband's family and not her own parents.

The court said, "In the instant case, married daughter proved to have been working as a Software Engineer in USA and having sufficient means, is under an obligation to maintain her parents."

The court further reasoned, "Though the Joint Committee recommended that if there are two more children the parents may seek the remedy against any one or more of them, the same appear to have not been accepted by the Parliament in its infinite wisdom, and that is why the same is not inserted in the provision of Section 125 Cr.P.C. It thus remained only a recommendation and did not crystallize into law. Insofar as the present case is concerned, what is seen is that the eldest son has prima facie shown that the married daughter and the younger son have been earning lordly sums by way of income and because of the dispute with the eldest son and his wife, the parents have sought maintenance from him only, without joining the married daughter and younger son to the proceeding."

The High Court further suggested the couple that they should include the married daughter and the youngest son in their application, arguing that only the eldest son should not be responsible for maintaining the parents and that the responsibility should be distributed among all the children.

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