The Kerala High Court has held that a physically challenged husband could not be exempted from his statutory liability to maintain his wife and children.
Justice K. Harilal made the observation while dismissing a petition by Rafeeq of Ernakulam challenging the order of the Ernakulam Family Court to pay maintenance allowance to his wife. The Family court had directed him to pay maintenance allowance of Rs. 3,000 each to his wife and son. However, the petitioner refused to pay maintenance allowance to them on the ground that he was suffering 60 percent permanent disability and he had no sources of income.
The court pointed out that at the time of the marriage, the petitioner had the disability and he had no case that after the marriage, the percentage of the disability had increased.
As the disability was subsisting at the time of marriage itself, he was fully confident that he could maintain a family. Besides, no document has been produced that he had fully lost his earning capacity or that he was incapable of doing any kind of work.
The court observed that physically challenged persons also could do some kind of work.
