Man told to pay maintenance to illegitimate child

A court here has told a man to pay monthly maintenance to his illegitimate child, observing that he cannot run away from his responsibility even after entering into a settlement deed with the child's mother.

Additional Sessions Judge Anuradha Shukla Bhardwaj dismissed the man's revision plea challenging a magisterial court order.

The sessions judge did not find any error with the ruling of the magisterial court which had ordered Rs.2,000 as monthly maintenance to the child on the ground that "the provisions of section 125 CrPC mandate the maintenance for legitimate children as well as illegitimate children".

The man claimed before the court that he was free from any liability as there was a compromise deed between him and the child's mother that she will not rake up any issue arising out of their relationship on receiving Rs.50,000 as a one-time settlement amount.

The court in a recent order observed that documents, including the child's birth certificate, had the man's name as his father, and directed him to pay monthly maintenance to the child.

The man requested the court to issue directions for a DNA test of the child.

The court said it was a matter of trial and at the prima facie stage, the present facts were sufficient to conclude that the child in all probability was born out of physical relations between his mother and the man.

The court said: "In any case, it is also a matter of evidence whether the compromise was arrived at out of free will or not and since the rights of a minor are involved, this document cannot be accepted at prima facie stage to deprive the minor of his rights of maintenance."