The Supreme Court of India ruled that a daughter has a fundamental, legally enforceable right to seek financial support for her education from her parents. In a case involving a separated couple, the court upheld the daughter’s entitlement to Rs 43 lakh for her studies, emphasizing that parents are obligated to fund their child’s education within their financial capacity. The bench also dissolved the couple’s marriage by mutual consent and reinforced the binding nature of a settlement agreement signed by the parties.
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NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court of India stated that a daughter has a definite, legal, and rightful claim to seek financial support for her education from her parents. Parents, within their financial capacity, can be compelled to provide the necessary funds for their child’s education.
The judgment was delivered by a bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan in a case involving a matrimonial dispute. The case concerned the daughter of a separated couple who was pursuing higher education in Ireland. The daughter had rejected Rs 43 lakh sent by her father for her education, which was part of the total alimony paid to her mother.
“She, being the daughter, has an indefeasible, legally enforceable, lawful, and legitimate right to secure educational expenses from her parents. All that we observe is that the daughter has a fundamental right to pursue her education, for which the parents could be compelled to provide necessary funds within the limit of their financial resources,”
-stated the bench in its order dated January 2.
The daughter, to preserve her dignity, had refused to accept the Rs 43 lakh and asked her father to take it back. However, he did not retrieve the money. The court clarified that the daughter had a legal right to the amount.
The father, the court noted, had spent the sum earlier without any pressing reasons, indicating that he was financially capable of supporting her educational aspirations.
“Respondent number 2 (daughter) has, thus, got a right to retain that amount. She need not, therefore, return that amount either to the appellant (mother) or to respondent number 1 (father), and may suitably appropriate it as she may deem fit,”
-the court observed.
The bench also referred to a settlement agreement signed on November 28, 2024, by the separated couple and their daughter. According to the agreement, the father had committed to pay Rs 73 lakh in total—Rs 43 lakh for his daughter’s education and Rs 30 lakh for his estranged wife.
Since the wife had already received her Rs 30 lakh share, and the couple had been living apart for the last 26 years, the bench found no reason to delay granting a decree of divorce by mutual consent.
“Consequently, we invoke our powers under Article 142 of the Constitution and dissolve the marriage of the parties by granting a decree of divorce by mutual consent,”
-the bench ruled.
The court further instructed that, following the terms of the settlement agreement, the estranged couple should not pursue any legal cases against each other. Any ongoing cases in any forum should be resolved based on the terms of the agreement.
“The parties shall have no claim against each other in future and shall abide by the terms and conditions of the settlement agreement, which shall form part of this order,”
-it said.
This judgment reinforces the fundamental right of children to seek financial support for education and emphasizes the importance of fulfilling such obligations within a parent’s financial limits.
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