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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UP: Misled by GPS navigation, car falls into river from partially constructed bridge, 3 dead
Bareilly (UP), Nov 24: Three people died when their car fell into the Ramganga river from a partially constructed bridge here on Sunday, police said, adding that they suspect the driver was misled by its navigation system into taking the unsafe route.
The accident occurred around 10 am on the Khalpur-Dataganj road when the victims were travelling from Bareilly to Dataganj in the Badaun district, they said.
"Earlier this year, floods had caused the front portion of the bridge to collapse into the river, but this change had not been updated in the system," Circle Officer Ashutosh Shivam said.
The driver was using a navigation system and did not realise that the bridge was unsafe, driving the car off the damaged section, the police said.
There were no safety barriers or warning signs on the approach to the damaged bridge, leading to the fatal accident, Shivam said.
Upon receiving information, police teams from Faridpur, Bareilly and Dataganj police station rushed to the spot. They recovered the vehicle and the bodies from the river, Shivam added.
The circle officer said that bodies had been sent for post-mortem. Further investigation into the matter is underway.
— Bareilly Police (@bareillypolice) November 24, 2024
