SHEELA GEORGE Vs. ALEXANDER

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This appeal is preferred against the order rejecting an application for maintenance filed by the appellants against the respondent.

(2.) The first appellant is the divorced wife of the respondent, and the second appellant is their child. The appellants filed a petition under Sec. 26 and Rule 1 of Order VII of the Code of Civil Procedure r/w Sec. 7 of the Family Courts Act before the Family Court, Mavelikkara, claiming Rs.3,60,000.00 as arrears of maintenance for the previous three years and Rs.5,000.00 each per month towards future maintenance. The parties are Christians.

(3.) The learned Family Judge dismissed the claim on the finding that, as per a compromise agreement (Ext.B2), the first appellant had relinquished her right to maintenance from the respondent on receiving Rs.30,000.00. It was also found that she failed to prove her inability to maintain herself, as well as the ability of the respondent to provide the amount of maintenance claimed. Regarding the claim for the child, the Family Court found that it is not maintainable as Sec. 37 of the Divorce Act ('the Act', for short) does not apply to a minor child. It was also observed that, since the respondent had been paying a monthly sum of Rs.175.00 to the child as per the order in M.C.No.34/1998 on the file of the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court, Mavelikkara, the remedy available to the child is to make an application under Sec. 127 of the Code of Criminal Procedure ('Cr.P.C.', for short) for enhancing the allowance of maintenance before that court.