CASE LAWS REGARDING CAN A MAJOR SON GET MAINTENANCE

 Urvashi Aggarwal v. InderPaul Aggarwal 2021 SCC OnLine Del. 3242.

The Delhi High Court, in June 2021, held that “it cannot be said that the obligation of
a father to maintain his son cannot come to an end when his son reaches 18 years of
age and the entire burden of his education other expenses would fall only on the
mother”. In this case, the Court observed that it was not possible for the mother to
bear the educational expenses of the major son and the fact that the son is still a
student which makes him unable to maintain himself. Hence, the Court ordered the
father of the major son to provide for the educational expenses till he completes his
graduation or starts earning whichever is earlier.

 Jayvardhan Sinh Chapotkat v. Ajayveer Chapotkat 2004 SCC OnLine Bom. 465

Wherein the Bombay High Court had granted interim maintenance to a son even after
attaining the age of majority on educational grounds. In this case, the major son had
contended that he is still a student and is unable to bear his educational expenses. The
Court vehemently expressed that “A major son of the well- educated family and
economically sound parents can claim educational expenses from his father
irrespective of the fact that he has attained majority”.

 Rita Dutta v. Subhendu Dutta 2005 6 SCC 619.

The Supreme Court of India held that the father is under an obligation to pay for the
maintenance of his major son since he is still student and his mother’s earnings are
not enough for five people (mother and four children). In this case, the mother of four
children which included a major son was unable to maintain all five of them with her
earnings and since the major son was still pursuing his education, he was not in a
position to sustain himself. Thus, the Court ordered the father of the major son to
maintain his till he completes his education.
 T. Vimala v. Ramakrishnan 2016 SCC OnLine Mad. 12324.

In this case, the Court expressed that “as education is an important part of a child’s
life and no father is expected to bring up his child as a criminal or a disorderly person,
thus they ought to maintain their son’s expenses. Section 125 is not just for food for
life, it should also be for food for thought”. Hence, the son even after attaining the age
of majority is entitled to claim maintenance from his father in order to complete his
education.

 Gitanjali Gajanan Tendulkar v. Gajanan Dinkar Tendulkar (1989) 1 Bom.CR 334. 

In this case, the Court ordered the father of a major son to provide maintenance to him
since he was residing with his mother and the mother’s earnings were not enough to
maintain the two of them. The Court said, “if a son reaches the age of eighteen, it
does not mean that as from that date he has to starve”. The Court held that it is the
duty of the father to maintain his major son who is unable to maintain himself and he
cannot deny his duty on the sole ground that his son has attained the age of majority.