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Kerala High Court Upholds Rs 5,000 Maintenance Order for Mother, Affirms Children’s Liability Under BNSS

The ruling clarifies that parents hold an independent right under Section 144 to seek maintenance from children regardless of spousal support.

Overview

  • Justice Kauser Edappagath dismissed the Malappuram son’s revision and sustained the family court’s award to his 60-year-old mother.
  • The court interpreted Section 144(1)(d) of the BNSS as a standalone entitlement for parents, distinct from a wife’s claim under Section 144(1)(a).
  • Claims that the father, a fisherman, was maintaining the mother or that she could earn by rearing cattle were rejected as legally irrelevant and morally unacceptable.
  • The bench held that a son cannot avoid supporting aged parents by citing overseas employment or obligations to his own nuclear family.
  • Related reporting noted a Nagpur bench Bombay High Court view that seniors need not live with abusive children to receive maintenance.