Man must pay maintenance even if daughter earns well: Bombay HC
India Today
The Bombay High Court has upheld a family court order, asking a man to continue maintenance of his daughter irrespective of his claims that his daughter earns a handsome income from her modeling career.
The Bombay High Court has upheld a family court order, asking a man to continue maintenance of his daughter who worked as a model. The court saw that the man's claim that his daughter was getting paid handsomely could not be considered as it was based on the model's social media profile.
The petition was filed by a man whose wife, because of a marital discord, had filed an application under Section 24 of the Hindu Marriage Act for maintenance pendente lite, By an order passed on Sept 1, 2018, the man was held liable to pay an amount of Rs 25,000 per month towards maintenance of his daughter, till final disposal of the main petition.
The man then moved an application before the family court again, seeking modification of the order, pleading that his daughter is a major and is working and earning sufficiently for her own maintenance. The court in 2021, recorded that even when a daughter becomes major, she is entitled to maintenance from her father till her marriage.
The man also claimed that his daughter is on her own and earning a handsome income from her modeling career. The court looked through the evidence placed on record, such as the printed copies of the photographs posted by his daughter on the social media, like Instagram, where she claimed that she earned an income of Rs 72 lakh to Rs 80 lakh.
Justice Bharti Dangre, while upholding the order said, "The family court Judge, in my considered opinion, has rightly recorded that the photographs of her Instagram biography are not sufficient to hold that she has an independent and sufficient income."
"It is a well-known fact that young people today project a glossy picture on social media and its contents may not always be true," he said.
The court said that the man's contention that his daughter’s earnings are Rs 72 lakh to Rs 80 lakh is based merely on her Instagram profile and the family court has rightly disbelieved the same in the absence of any independent evidence to be brought on record to show her earnings," said Justice Dangre.
