New Delhi: Four sons have been directed to jointly pay Rs 1,000 as monthly maintenance to their 70-year-old father by a Delhi court which awarded the meagre amount on the ground that he had neglected his family when they needed him.
Metropolitan Magistrate Savitri granted maintenance to the senior citizen but also held that "he does not qualify the requisites" for being maintained by his children.
"The stand of respondents (sons) is that the petitioner (father) never took any care of them and neglected them and never performed his responsibilities towards his family.
"The same has been proved, hence, I hold that the present case relates to a man, who never cared for his wife and children when they were young and needed him the most," the magistrate said.
The court noted that he has engaged a private counsel in the case and not a legal aid counsel and this showed that he has got earnings to engage his own advocate.
"In this light, I am satisfied that petitioner has not come to court with clean hands," the magistrate said.
The judge added, "Even so, in my view, the ends of justice would be met if I direct all the respondents to pay Rs 1,000 per month collectively as maintenance to petitioner."
The man, a resident of Meerut, sought maintenance from his four sons on the ground that he has no source of income as he was old and is not able to do any job now.
He told the court that he is a post-graduate and was earlier giving tuitions as well as doing tailoring work.
The man, living separately from his family, said out of his four sons, two are in government service and are earning well and prayed for Rs 500 monthly maintenance from each.
His sons, residing in Shahdara with their mother, wives and children, refused to give maintenance to their father saying he never took care of them and neglected him when they were young and it was their mother who alone arranged for their as well as their two sisters` marriages.
The sons said their father was still earning by giving tuitions and doing tailoring work, which was denied by him.
The court, agreeing with the contentions of the sons, said he must be giving tuitions even now as this is a job which does not require much physical labour.
"He does not appear to be in a frail health though age itself is a disease. Even the petitioner has admitted before the court that he is a qualified person and MA (Economics) and was giving tuitions earlier.
"Giving tuitions is a job, which does not require much physical labour, hence, I hold that the petitioner must be earning by giving tuitions even today, if not by tailoring job (considering his age of 70 years). I hold that he has made deliberate attempts to hide his income from the court and to exaggerate his expenses," the magistrate said.
The court, however, granted maintenance to the man saying the rationale behind the idea of granting maintenance to old persons is that the children should take care of the parents in their old age as the parents had taken care of their children when the children were young. Now, when the parents are aged and infirm, they must not be left to suffer, it said.
PTI
