Bengaluru (Karnataka): The Karnataka High Court, dismissing a man's petition seeking to exempt him from providing maintenance to his wife and child, made it clear that an able-bodied man must take care of his wife and children and if he is jobless, he must find a job to do so.
Orders to this effect was passed by a single-member bench headed by Justice M Nagaprasanna while rejecting the petition filed by a husband who challenged the orders of the Family Court of Mysore awarding a monthly maintenance of Rs 10,000 to his wife and child.
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The bench noted that the petitioner, an able-bodied man has to take care of his wife and the child. "If he is jobless, he must find a job and provide maintenance of Rs. 10,000," the bench ruled while noting that the petitioner has not submitted any proof to back his claims on ill health.
"Also, the petitioner has failed to submit any document proving that he is suffering from an ailment due to which he cannot work. The bench also instructed the petitioner that an amount of Rs 6000 must be given to the wife and Rs. 4000 should be given to the child," the order read.
Counsel for the petitioner during the hearing submitted that his client was not in a position to pay the maintenance as ordered due to ill health and lack of a proper job. "Our client is not in a position to pay any maintenance to his wife and child as he is suffering from several ailments. He does not have a proper job and is not earning more than Rs 15,000 per month," the counsel said.
