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Synopsis

The Delhi High Court has ruled that while an unmarried or widowed daughter has a claim in the estate of her deceased father, the same does not apply to a divorced daughter as she is not a dependent entitled to maintenance under the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act (HAMA).

A division bench comprising Justice Suresh Kumar Kait and Justice Neena Bansal Krishna made the observation while dismissing an appeal filed by a divorced woman challenging a family court order that had rejected her claim of maintenance from her mother and brother.

“An unmarried or widowed daughter is recognized to have a claim in the estate of the deceased, but a “divorced daughter” does not feature in the category of dependents entitled to maintenance”, the court said.

The bench said that the claim for maintenance had been made under Section 21 of the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act (HAMA) which provides for the dependents who may claim maintenance.  It provides for nine categories of relatives in which a divorced daughter does not figure, the court said.

The woman had challenged a January 4, 2018 family court order which rejected her plea under Section 22 (dealing with maintenance of dependents) of the HAMA. Her father died in 1999 leaving behind four heirs; his wife, son, and two daughters. It was the woman’s case that she was not given any share as a legal heir.

The woman had married a man in 1995 but claimed that her husband later deserted her and went to the United States of America. She was eventually granted an ex-parte divorce in 2001. She claimed that her mother and brother agreed to pay her Rs 45,000 per month as maintenance on the assurance that she would not press for her share in the property.

The woman stated that she was given maintenance regularly only till November 2014 and it had stopped thereafter. Claiming “extreme shortage of funds”, she demanded her share in ancestral properties, but her family members flatly declined to give her anything.

She claimed that the family court had not taken into consideration that she did not receive any money, alimony or maintenance from her former husband. She argued that as her former husband is not traceable, she cannot seek any alimony or maintenance from him. She also sought that her family be directed to pay her Rs 1 lakh per month as maintenance as she is a dependant of the Hindu Undivided Family under HAMA.

The court said that the woman, being a divorcee can claim maintenance from her former husband. “The woman sought to explain that since the man was not traceable, she was unable to claim maintenance from him”, it noted. However difficult the situation as it may be, under the HAMA as she is not a “dependent” as defined under the Act and thus not entitled to claim maintenance from her mother and brother, it added.

The bench noted that the woman had admitted to her deceased father bequeathing nine acres of land to her in his will. “Though she claims that since the exact location and address of the land was not mentioned, she was not able to trace the land to claim her share, but during the course of arguments, learned counsel for the respondents had clarified that the land was sold in the year 2001 jointly by the appellant (woman) and the sister, and they had shared the sale proceeds,” it observed in its order dated September 13.

“As has been rightly observed by the learned Judge, Family court, the appellant has already received her share from the estate of her father and having received her share, she cannot again raise any claim of maintenance afresh from the respondents”, the court said.

“The respondent no. 2/ mother has already made arrangements for providing the residence to the appellant (divorced daughter). It cannot be overlooked that the respondents being the brother and mother had also supported the daughter/appellant by voluntarily giving her Rs 45,000 per month to her till 2014,” the court said.

Case Title: Malini Chaudhri v. Rajat Chaudhri & Anr.