Mumbai High Court says 38-year-old mentally challenged man not a child

A 38-year-old mentally challenged man cannot be considered a child under the Domestic Violence (DV) Act, the Bombay high court ruled on Thursday and quashed a lower court's order granting maintenance to the man and his mother.

Justice Roshan Dalvi heard a petition by a man to quash and set aside the order of a Solapur magistrate directing him to pay his wife and son Rs 5,000 each as maintenance. The magistrate's order was passed on a complaint by the wife and son under the DV Act. They sought maintenance, saying after 12 years of the birth of their child, the husband had neglected them. The husband's appeal before the sessions court was dismissed.

Uday Warunjikar, the husband's advocate, argued that the son was not entitled to maintenance under the DV Act as the definition of a 'child' under the Act does not include a 38-year-old man, even though he is mentally challenged. He said there was no pleading about commission of acts of domestic violence after the DV Act came into effect in September 2005.

Justice Dalvi allowed the husband's plea but told the woman to seek relief before the appropriate court under the appropriate law.


Source : TOI , Mumbai ; 21st June  2013