LexDR. (MRS.) VIJAYA MANOHAR ARBAT versus KASHI RAO RAJARAM SAWAI AND ANR.
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DR. (MRS.) VIJAYA MANOHAR ARBAT A v. KASHI RAO RAJARAM SAWAI AND ANR. -'I FEBRUARY 18, 1987 [G.L. OZA AND MURARI MOHON DUTT, JJ.] B - J Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, section 125( l)(d), scope of- Interpretation of the pronoun 'his'-Whether includes 'her'-Section 2(y) of Criminal Procedure Code read with section 8 of Indian Penal Code and section 13( 1) of the General bauses Act-Maintenance of ><,.. father/mother by a daughter-Whether a claim by a father under section c 125( l)(d) Criminal Procedure Code maintainable. The appellant, a medical practitioner at Kalyan, District Thane, is --~ the married daughter of Respondent No. 1, Kashirao Rajaram Sawai, hy his first wife, who died in 1948. Thereafter, Respondent No. 1 re- married and he is living with his second wife. He filed an application D before the Judicial Magistrate, First Court Kalyan claiming mainte- nance from the appellant at the rate of Rs.500 per month on the ground that he was unable to maintain himself. A preliminary objection raised to the effect, that an application .J under section 125(1)(d) Criminal Procedure Code hy a father to claim E maintenance from his daughter was not maintainable was overruled hy the Trial Magistrate and upheld by the High Court in revision. Hence - the daughter's appeal hy Special leave. y Dismissing the appeal, the Court, F -l HELD: 1.1 An application under section 125(1)(d) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, hy a father claiming maintenance from his married daughter is perfectly maintainable. [337C] 1.2 Section 125(1)(d) of the Code (a new provision) has imposed a liability on both the son and the daughter to maintain their father or G mother who is unable to maintain himself or herself. [337F] A 1.3 The object of section 125 Criminal Procedure Code is to pro- vide a summary remedy to save dependents frcim destitution and vag- rancy and thus to serve a social purpose. There can be no doubt that it is the moral obligation of a son or a daughter to maintain his or her H 331 332 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1987] 2 S.C.R. A parents. It is not desirable that even though a son or a daughter has sufficient means, his or her parents would starve. Apart from any law, the Indian Society casts a duty on the children of a person to maintain their parents if they are not in a position to maintain themselves. It is also their duty to look aft.er their parents when they become old and infirm. [335B-C] B Bhagwan Dutt v. Kam/a Devi, [1975] 2 SCC 386, referred to. 2.1 It is true that clause (d) has used the expression 'his father or mother' but, the use of the word 'his' does not exclude the parents claiming maintenance from their daughter. Section 2(y) Criminal Pro- C cedure Code provides that words and expressions used herein and not defined but defined in the Indian Penal Code have the meanings respec- tively assigned to them in that Code. Section 8 of the Indian Penal Code lays down that the pronoun 'he' and its derivatives are used for any person whether male or female. Thus, in view of section 8 Indian Penal Code read with section 2(y) Criminal Procedure Code, the pronoun D 'his' in clause (d) of section 125(1) Criminal Procedure Code also indi- cates a female. Section 13(1) of the General Clauses Act lays down that in all Central Acts and Regulations, unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context, words importing the masculine gender shall be taken to include females. Therefore, the pronoun 'his' as used in clause (d) of section 125(1) Criminal Procedure Code includes both a male and E a female. In other words, the parents will be entitled to claim mainte- nance against their daughter provided, however, the other conditions as mentioned in the section are fulfilled. Before ordering maintenance in favour of a father or a mother against their married daughter, the court must be satisfied that the daughter has sufficient means of her own independently of the means or income of her husband, and that the F father or the mother, as the case may be, is unable to maintain himself or herself. [335E-H; 336A-B] 2.2 When the statute provides that the pronoun 'his' not onlv denotes a male but also a female, it is not necessary to refer to the report of the Joint Committee on Criminal Procedure Code Bill for the in- G terpretation of clause (d) of section 125(1) Criminal Procedure Code. The father or mother, unable to maintain himself or herself, ca
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