Denial of visitation rights not a ground to grant exemption from payment of maintenance: Madras High Court

The Madras High Court recently held that denial of visitation rights to an estranged husband was no ground for him to stop paying maintenance to his wife and child. [P Geetha v. V Kirubaharan].In a order passed on December 22, Justice SM Subramaniam said that the obligation of the husband to provide maintenance stood on a "higher pedestal" than that of the wife..The Court further said that the parents and natural guardians of minor children were bound to provide maintenance for their children, and that courts can order payment of maintenance to a minor child even in the absence of an application for interim maintenance by the mother. .Justice Subramaniam was hearing a petition filed by a woman seeking transfer of her divorce proceedings from Poonamallee to Tiruchirappalli district. The woman had said that following her separation from her husband, she and her 11-month-old daughter had moved to her parents' home in Tiruchirappalli and it was difficult for her to travel to Poonamallee for the court hearings. She said that while she was a dentist, she was not working currently and had no source of income. During the hearing, it was brought to the Court's notice that the petitioner's estranged husband had not been paying the interim maintenance of ₹5,000 for the child. The husband's counsel told the Court that since the woman was refusing to let her estranged husband visit their daughter, he had decided not to pay the maintenance amount..The Court took strong exception to such submission. "The tenor of the husband expressed through his counsel shows his attitude and conduct. He is none other than the father of the 11-months-old female child. Such an approach of the husband, who is a public servant, at no circumstances, be encouraged by this court. The respondent, being the father, is responsible for the maintenance of the child. Thus he has to share the maintenance along with the petitioner for the livelihood of the child, which is now with the custody of the petitioner-wife," it said. It further stated that it was an established principle that even if a woman was earning and had a source of income, the same will not act as a bar for courts to award her maintenance from her estranged husband..Justice Subramaniam also said that several judgments of the Supreme Court had already established that the remedy of maintenance is a measure of social justice as envisaged under the Constitution to prevent the wife and the children from falling into destitution and vagrancy. "The Court may take into consideration the status of the parties and the capacity of the spouse to pay for her or his support. Maintenance is dependent upon factual situations; the Court should mould the claim for maintenance based on various factors brought before it. The courts have held that if the wife is earning, it cannot operate as a bar from being awarded maintenance by the husband. The obligation of the husband to provide maintenance stands on a higher pedestal than the wife," the Court said..The judge also made some observations regarding grandparents being made to take of children whose parents get divorced."In many cases unemployed mothers are maintaining their minor child/children, causing burden to the age-old parents and such circumstances must be seriously considered by the Courts. Grandparents are burdened with their minor children and the fathers of those minor children are the earning members and escaping from the clutches of their liability, which cannot be tolerated by the Courts...".The Court ultimately directed a transfer of the proceedings to Tiruchirappalli, and the husband was directed to pay an interim maintenance of ₹5,000 per month to the wife."The Interim Maintenance granted in the present Transfer Civil Miscellaneous Petition is not a bar for the petitioner to claim further maintenance in accordance with law," it held..Advocate P Anitha appeared for the petitioner wife. Advocate S Saravanakumar appeared for the respondent husband..[Read order]