Wife Pay Maintenance to Mother-in-law Compassionate Appointment

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{ HAD GOT JOB AFTER HUSBAND’S DEATH }

Court directs woman to pay maintenance to mother-in-law.

CHANDIGARH: In an important judgment, the Punjab and Haryana high court has directed a woman, who got compassionate job in her husband’s place, to pay maintenance of ₹10,000 to her mother-in-law.

The high court bench of justice Harpreet Singh Brar said that even as Section 125 of CrPC (now Section 144 of BNSS) does not place any liability on the daughter-in-law to maintain her parents-in-law or vice versa. However, the petitioner woman was employed on compassionate grounds.

“The idea behind granting compassionate appointment is to assist the family in dealing with the financial crisis that follows death of a bread-earner,” the court observed while noting that husband of the sexagenarian mother-in-law has died and the son, who is living with her is a rickshaw puller and can’t take care of her financial needs.

The woman had challenged family court order of Sonepat, which directed in March 2024 that the woman pays ₹10,000 as maintenance to sexagenarian mother-in-law.

As per the proceedings the woman had got married to a Sonepat resident in May 2001, who worked as constable in Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthala. He passed away in March 2002, while in service. The petitioner woman got job on compassionate grounds in January 2005. Subsequently, she left matrimonial home. However, the mother-in-law filed an application seeking maintenance in 2022, which was allowed by the family court.

In her plea before the high court the woman had argued that the parents of the deceased husband were not dependent on her. Also, she was raising her son as a single mother. It was also argued that when she left matrimonial home, she never sought any financial aid from her in-laws. The court found that the woman had given an affidavit at the time of appointment that she will be liable to take care of the “dependents and family mem- bers” of her deceased husband.

“Since the petitioner was given her current job on compassionate grounds, she is liable to take care of the respondent, as she has stepped into the shoes of her deceased husband,” the court said adding that it is conscious of the plight of a single mother but at the same time she can’t be allowed to avoid the responsibil- ities that come with a compas- sionate appointment. The woman is earning ₹80,000 per month and can comfortably pay ₹10,000 per month as maintenance, it added. The court observed that “justice” cannot be viewed in its absolute mechanical form, devoid of context and nuance. “In a welfare state, it is of the utmost importance that the vulnerability of the disadvantaged is recognised, and the application of justice is viewed from a renewed perspective,” the bench remarked.

For case specific advice, get in touch with best Maintenance Lawyers Punjab and Haryana High Court District Court Chandigarh Panchkula Mohali Derabassi Kharar.

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