IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH Date of decision:07.07.2025 Bhavya Pathania and another ...Petitioner(s)

Versus Navdeep Pathania ...Respondent(s)

CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE JASGURPREET SINGH PURI Present:- Ms. Baani Chhibber Mahajan, Legal Aid Counsel with Mr. Prateek Mahajan, Advocate and Ms. Solani Sharma, Advocate, for the petitioners.

Mr. J.S. Mahal, Advocate, for the respondent.

Mr. Preetinder Singh Ahluwalia, Amicus Curiae with Ms. Bhavi Kapur, Advocate and Mr. Jaiveer Singh, Advocate.

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JASGURPREET SINGH PURI, J.

1. An important question of law which has arisen in the present case is whether an unmarried major daughter is entitled for the grant of maintenance from her parents or not in a proceeding under Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and if yes, then under what circumstances.

Facts of the present case

2. Two daughters of the respondent, aged 19 years and 15 years, filed a petition under Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure for the grant of maintenance against their father before the learned Principal Judge, Family Court, Gurdaspur which was allowed by way of impugned order dated 06.05.2022 by granting maintenance of Rs.10,000/- per month each to both the daughters from the date of filing of the application till both of them either get married or get employed, whichever is earlier along with litigation expenses to the tune of Rs. 5,000/-.

3. The present is a Criminal Revision Petition filed by both the daughters for modification and enhancement of the maintenance amount with a prayer that the amount be enhanced to Rs. 20,000/- per month each along with litigation expenses of Rs. 50,000/-.

4. The marriage between the mother of the petitioners and the respondent, who is the father of the petitioners, was solemnized on 08.12.1997 and out of the said wedlock, petitioners No.1 and 2 were born on 01.09.1998 and 19.08.2002 respectively. The relationship between the mother of the petitioners and the respondent turned sour and as per the allegations, the respondent also gave beatings to the mother of the petitioners and she came back to her parental house. Complaints in this regard were also moved to the police. The petitioners along with their mother are now residing in a house belonging to the father of the respondent but they are living separately from the respondent.

5. At the time of filing of the petition before the learned Principal Judge, Family Court, petitioner No.1 was pursuing a degree of B.Sc. at DAV University, Jalandhar and after completion of the same, she also completed her B.Ed. and M.Sc. in Chemistry and at that point of time, she was major of the age of 19 years and as per the learned counsel for the parties, she is still unmarried. Petitioner No.2 was studying in 11^th Standard in Jiya Lal Mittal, DAV Public School, Gurdaspur and is pursuing a Bachelor's degree in Veterinary Sciences from Khalsa College, Amritsar. She was a minor of the age of 15 years at the time of filing of the petition and she has now attained the age of majority and she is also unmarried.

6. Before the learned Principal Judge, Family Court, it was proved on record that the mother of the petitioners is working as a Teacher in Government Senior Secondary School, Tibber and is drawing a salary of Rs. 48,000/- per month. So far as the respondent who is the father of the petitioners is concerned, it was proved on record that his gross salary was Rs. 1,18,000/- per month, which he admitted during his cross-examination. The Principal Judge, Family Court had granted maintenance of Rs.10,000/- per month each to the petitioners which according to the respondent, he had been paying to the petitioners. It was also the case of the respondent that he was paying the school fee as well as admission fee of the petitioners.

7. There was neither anything on the record before the learned Principal Judge, Family Court nor before this Court nor the same has been pleaded by the respondent who is the father of the petitioners