A father is bound to maintain his sons until they have attend the age of puberty. He is also bound to maintain his daughters until they have married. The Intent and purpose of the maintenance allowance to a minor child is to enable her/him to continue living at least in the same state of affairs as the child was used to live prior to separation/divorce amongst the parents and it would be quite unjust and against the norms of proprietary if due to separation amongst the parents the child has to relegate to a lower level of living standard or he/she is declined the level or standard of education which was achieved by him/her prior to such happening i.e. separation of parents.
At the same time, there is no escape from the fact that financial status of the father is also to be taken into consideration while awarding maintenance. The minors are entitled to be maintained by the father in the manner befitting the status and financial condition of the father and for this reason the Family Court is under an obligation while granting the maintenance allowance, to keep in mind the financial condition and status of the father. The Courts are under legal obligation to make an inquiry in this regard. It cannot act arbitrarily or whimsically.
In absence of father, it was the duty of grand-father to maintain the minors. If the grand-father is a man of means then he is bound by LAW to maintain the grand-children.
In case, the father or the grand-father, as the case may be, are themselves not in a position to afford in easy circumstance to maintain their dependents, then it is the duty of the State to provide for basic necessities of life, such as food, clothing, housing, education and medical relief for all citizen irrespective of their sex, caste, creed or race, who are permanently or temporarily unable to earn their livelihood on account of sickness or unemployment or circumstances beyond their control.
The system of Zakat can be linked up with the Family Courts to the extent that if the Family Court is of the view that the persons liable to pay maintenance are poor and those who should have to receive maintenance also fall under the clause of eligible persons entitled to receive Zakat funds, then the suitable directions to Zakat and Ushr Council be also issued. For this purpose, the Court after an inquiry as provided in C.P.C. for pauperism, may direct the plaintiffs to implead the State as a respondent in the pending list and then to direct the relevant organ or authority of the State, including Bait-ul-Maal and the Local Governments to regularly pay the determined maintenance to the minors. Needless to mention here that when the right of the minors or ladies seeking maintenance has been determined by a court of law, there will be no further need to verify their such claims by the organ or authority, which would be directed to pay the maintenance to such people.
NOTE
This information provided in the article do not constitute legal advice and are not intended by the author.
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