Karnataka High Court dismisses sons’ plea against order giving higher allowance to mother
Karnataka High Court dismisses sons’ plea against order giving higher allowance to mother
Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court has said that the number of youths failing to take care of their aged and ailing parents is on the rise and this is not a happy development.
Justice Krishna S Dixit made the observation while dismissing a petition filed by Gopal and his brother Mahesh, residents of NR Mohalla, Mysore, questioning the order passed by the deputy commissioner in May 2022, asking them to pay monthly maintenance allowance to their mother. was increased from Rs.5,000 to Rs.10,000.
The assistant commissioner granted Rs 5,000 as monthly maintenance allowance in May 2019 to Venkatamma, an 84-year-old ailing mother of both abandoned, under the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act.
The court also imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 on Venkatamma to pay within 30 days, failing which the brothers would have to pay Rs 100 per day after 30 days. Gopal and Mahesh argued that they did not have sufficient means to pay Rs 10,000 and were willing to take care of their mother.
He, they said, should be asked to go to his house instead of staying with his daughters, which instigated him to claim higher maintenance allowance. They allegedly concealed the fact that one of them was getting Rs 20,000 as rent from the shops. The court said, “We are living in such an era where bread is more expensive than blood. Money is losing its purchasing power, days are proving very costly… With no joy in heart, this Court observes nowadays, a section of youth is failing to take care of old and sick parents and their number is increasing.
This is not a happy development.” Noting that the law, religion and customs oblige sons to take care of their parents and especially their aged mothers, the court observed that it is not the case that daughters wants any share in the family property. She is the one who is taking care of her mother abandoned by her brothers.” This Court observed Venkatamma, who is illiterate and has a delicate health condition. No law or judgment can Not to mention that the unwilling parents may be forced to live with the children. Such contention is inconsistent and abhorrent at least to our culture and tradition,” the judge said.
