Blitz Bureau
THE Punjab and Haryana High Court has held that a woman employed on compassionate grounds following her husband’s death can be asked to maintain her mother-in-law, according to Bar and Bench.
Justice Harpreet Singh Brar upheld a family court order directing a woman to pay an interim maintenance of ₹10,000 per month to her mother-in-law. The court observed that though Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) does not place any liability on the daughter-in-law to maintain her parent-in-law or viceversa, exceptions can be carved for the purposes of justice.
The petitioner woman was appointed as junior clerk by the Rail Coach Factory in 2005 after her husband, a constable, died in 2002. Thereafter, she left her matrimonial home along with her son.
In 2022, her mother-in-law approached a family court in Sonepat seek maintenance from her. In March 2024, the petitioner was ordered by the court to pay the interim maintenance to her mother-in-law.
She challenged the same, arguing that her mother-in-law has other children who can maintain her. It was also contended that the mother-in-law had approached the court after a delay of 20 years. However, the High Court found that at the time of appointment, she had undertaken to look after the dependents and family members of her husband.
“Since the petitioner was given her current job on compassionate ground, she is liable to take care of the respondent, as she has stepped into the shoes of her deceased husband,” the court said.
Though the court acknowledged the petitioner’s plight as a single mother, it said that she cannot be allowed to reap the benefits of compassionate appointment and at the same time avoid the responsibilities that come with it.
