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Father not liable to bear child’s education cost if not consulted: Bombay HC
Courtesy/By: Priyal Kothari
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02 Nov 2019
Views:2459
The Bombay high court (HC) recently in its judgment held that if a father is not consulted about the education of his child, he is not liable to bear the entire cost of his or her education.
A division bench of justices Akil Kureshi and SJ Kathawalla passed the order while hearing an application filed by a woman, seeking directions to her divorced husband to pay Rs1.20 crore towards the education of their daughter in Australia. However, the Court found that since the husband was not consulted about her education beforehand, he was not liable to bear the costs for the same. The Court noted,
"...concededy the decision to send the daughter for higher education abroad was taken out consultation of the husband, whatever the reason for non-consultation may be..."
In view of the same, the Bench proceeded to opine,
"When a ward is being sent for education abroad at a relatively young age, which entails considerable expenditure, the concurrence of both parents, particularly one who is expected to bear the expenditure thereof, would be necessary. The husband certainly would have a right to inquire about the university where the child is likely to be admitted, the course being pursued, the aptitude of the child in the particular branch of education etc., which would be relevant factors. The applicant cannot take a unilateral decision of such magnitude and simply send the bill for the expenditure to the father.”
Before the High Court, the wife submitted that her former husband has multiple income sources and that he was engaged in the money lending and finance business. It was also claimed that he had financed popular Hindi feature films.
The bench, while hearing the civil application filed by the woman in a family court appeal, was told by advocates Abhijeet Sarwate and Ajinkya Udane that as per a family court order, the husband was paying maintenance of ?30,000 and ?20,000 each, for their two daughters. One of the daughters had been admitted to a five-year course in Australia in 2014, and the mother had mortgaged her flat to bear the cost. The advocates submitted that as the father was well-off, he should pay the ?1.20 crore..
Ultimately, it was stated that the decision to send the daughter for higher education was taken without consulting him. It was argued further that the respondent was not in a position to bear the expenditure for the same.
The Court, in turn, observed that both sides were trying to project a rather bleak financial picture of their own resources as against the rosy picture of the opponent. After perusing the material on record, the Court refused to grant the applicant's the prayer for maintenance, given that she as unable to produce clear evidence of the current financial capacity of the husband.
Tthe Court found it appropriate that the divorced husband be directed to bear a part of his daughter's expenses, observing that,
... Looking to the resources of the husband and also looking to the fact that the daughter is performing well in her higher education at Australia and the fact that the mother has already undertaken and will continue to undertake expenditure for such education, we direct the respondent-husband to pay a sum of Rs.25 Lakhs towards the said cause."
The Court disposed of the plea with a direction that the divorced husband pays Rs 25 lakhs towards his daughter's education in Australia within four weeks and however, it was held that the father will not be liable to bear his child’s education if he is not consulted by the other half after divorce by Bombay High Court.
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Courtesy/By: Priyal Kothari
|
02 Nov 2019
Views:2459