Disabled husband need not pay maintenance; Karnataka HC orders grandfather to pay child support
Bengaluru, Apr 12: The Karnataka High Court has declined to compel a man with a 75 per cent disability to provide maintenance to his estranged wife, and overturned a lower court's order for his arrest or the levying of a fine.
The single judge bench of Justice M Nagaprasanna emphasised the man's physical limitations, stating, "The husband walks with the help of crutches," making it impractical to expect him to seek employment in order to make maintenance payments.
Marital discord led the husband to petition for annulment of the marriage, alleging that the wife left him voluntarily. Amidst this, the wife sought interim maintenance under Section 24 of the Hindu Marriage Act, and was initially granted Rs 15,000 per month.
However, the husband subsequently became disabled and this hindered his ability to pay maintenance.
The court scrutinised the wife's employment and the husband's disability certificate, questioning the rationale behind demanding maintenance from an incapacitated husband. It underscored the need to consider all factors and the husband's inability to earn due to his disability.
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Highlighting the staggering arrears of Rs 19,04,000, covering the period of disability, the court expressed concern over the financial strain on the husband. Rejecting the notion of tapping into the husband's father's resources, the court however deemed it appropriate for the husband's father to support the grandchild's needs.
The court rejected the wife's plea for enhanced maintenance, labeling it untenable, and mandated the husband's father to settle the arrears until the onset of the man's disability.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
