Daijiworld Media Network – Bengaluru
Bengaluru, Jul 21: In a significant ruling, the Karnataka high court has held that it is the moral as well as legal duty of a father to bear the expenses of his unmarried daughter's higher education. The court observed that a father's responsibility to provide for his daughter's educational and medical needs does not end merely because she has attained the age of 18.
Justice H P Sandesh, sitting on a single-judge bench, dismissed a petition filed by a Mangaluru-based entrepreneur challenging the district court's order directing him to pay Rs 16 lac towards the first-year educational expenses of his daughter, who is pursuing an MD postgraduate medical degree.
Referring to various Supreme Court judgments, the high court observed that daughters have a legal right to seek financial assistance from their parents, within the limits of their financial capacity, to pursue higher education. The court held that a father cannot ask his adult daughter to obtain a bank loan to continue her studies. Since she has no independent source of income and an MBBS degree alone has limited value in the present-day medical profession without an MD qualification, the father is bound to bear the cost of her higher education, the court ruled.
The case arose after the student, who had completed her MBBS and secured good marks in the PG NEET examination, obtained admission to a private medical college in Mangaluru. She required Rs 16 lac towards first-year tuition fees and other expenses. However, due to disputes between her parents, she was left in financial distress.
As payment of the fees was unavoidable, she borrowed Rs 13.87 lac from her grandfather and paid the Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA) and the college. She later approached the magistrate's court under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, seeking a direction to her father to bear her educational expenses. The magistrate's court ordered the father to pay Rs 16 lac, and the district court upheld the order.
Rejecting the father's contention that his daughter had already attained the age of 18 and was receiving a monthly stipend of Rs 60,000 during her postgraduate course, the high court held that she was still entitled to claim educational and financial support.
The bench observed that once a daughter attains adulthood, she falls within the definition of a ‘woman’ under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act and can seek educational rights and financial assistance on the ground that denial of such support amounts to economic abuse. Accordingly, the court dismissed the father's petition.
The high court also rejected the father's plea that he was facing financial hardship and was heavily indebted. After examining his income tax returns and bank records, the court noted that the petitioner owned properties worth several crores of rupees and had demonstrated the financial capacity to obtain and repay substantial bank loans.
The bench further observed that both parents had jointly decided to admit their daughter to the MBBS course and, therefore, the father could not now shirk his responsibility towards her higher education.
In its observations, the high court said that education is the greatest gift a father can give his child. Unlike material possessions, knowledge is everlasting and holds unique value. Providing quality education to children and preparing them to earn a respectable place in society is both a legal and moral responsibility of a father, the court observed, adding that this is an accepted principle across the world.