Legitimate or not, father bound to pay for working daughter's marriage: Kerala HC

Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Tuesday held that a Hindu unmarried daughter has every right to claim and thereby obtain expenses from her father for her anticipated marriage irrespective of her and her mother’s other sources of income.

The high court stated that even illegitimate children are entitled to such a right.

According to a report in The Times of India, a division bench of the Kerala High Court was considering a petition --- (Mat. Appeal No. 1234/2015) --- filed by Ambika Aravindakshan from Coimbatore.

Ambika had approached the high court after the Palakkad family court decided that she is not entitled to receive marriage expenses from her father K Aravindakshan as the former and her mother earn a rental sum of Rs 12, 000 every month. Ambika had asked for Rs 5 lakhs from Aravindakshan.

Citing a 1987 ruling of the court (Karunakaran Nair vs V Suseela Amma), the Kerala High Court dismissed the argument of a rental income of Rs 12, 000 saying, an individual doesn’t live by bread alone and has other basic necessities to cater to.

"One can just imagine what amount the petitioner or her mother could have saved after meeting the day to day expenses. The respondent (father) has got no case that the petitioner or her mother is employed or that they have got any other source of income. In these circumstances, we have no hesitation to find that the order of the lower court rejecting the claim of the petitioner in toto is erroneous," the TOI reported the division bench saying.

According to the Kerala High Court ruling, the liability of the father arises from section 20(1) of Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956. A Hindu man is bound, under law, to maintain his infirm parents and children, both legitimate and illegitimate. Ambika’s right to demand money for her intended marriage is backed by section 3(b)(ii), which includes reasonable expenses of and incident to a daughter's marriage.