Unmarried, Able Bodied, Adult Daughters Can't Claim Maintenance: J&K High Court

Adult, unmarried daughters who are physically and mentally sound are not entitled to maintenance from their father under Section 488 of the Jammu & Kashmir Code of Criminal Procedure, the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh has ruled. 

The statutory provision provides maintenance to wives and children unable to support themselves.

Justice Rahul Bharti passed the judgment in a case titled 'Abdul Raheem Bhat (Senior Citizen) v. Beauty Jan and Ors'. The court was hearing a petition filed by the senior citizen, challenging a Judicial Magistrate's order that directed him to pay Rs 1,200 each to his two adult, unmarried daughters.

"A bare perusal of Section 488 would show that the two unmarried daughters of the petitioner, being of major age but suffering no physical/mental abnormality or injury rendering them unable to maintain themselves, were not supposed to invoke Section 488 CrPC by any stretch of claim or reasoning," the High Court said in its ruling, as per Bar and Bench.

The matter began in 2014 when Mr Bhat's two daughters and son approached the trial court seeking maintenance from him. The court allowed the claim only for the daughters. 

While ruling in favour of the father, the High Court noted that the lower courts failed to consider a key aspect - that the daughters, being adults without any disability, did not qualify for maintenance under the applicable law.

Setting aside the magistrate's order, the Court allowed the senior citizen's petition. "The petition is allowed," the Court held. Advocate GN Sofi represented the petitioner.

Mr Bhat earlier moved a separate plea seeking maintenance from his son, which was granted in 2017. The son was ordered to pay Rs 2,000 monthly.

This ruling stands in contrast to a judgment passed by the Allahabad High Court last year. It held that unmarried daughters, whether Hindu or Muslim, can claim maintenance from their parents, regardless of age, under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005.