The Delhi High Court has stated that if someone marries a person who already has a child, they cannot later argue that the child is not their responsibility. The court’s division bench of Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva and Justice Vikas Mahajan observed that when a person enters into a marriage with someone who has a child, it is presumed that they have accepted the responsibility of the child.
A husband’s plea challenging a family court’s order was dismissed by the court. The family court had rejected his application to modify the final judgment, which granted him a divorce from his wife on the grounds of desertion. As per the family court’s order, the petitioner was directed to pay Rs. 2,500 for the first five years and Rs. 3,500 for the next five years to the two children. He was also instructed to pay Rs. 5,000 each until both children became financially independent or got married.
The husband had requested a modification of the family court’s order, which required him to provide financial support for his two children. He argued that the elder daughter was not his responsibility since she was already listed as a dependent of his ex-wife’s late first husband in the Army’s records. However, the division bench upheld the family court’s order, stating that the husband was aware of this fact, and the Army’s recognition did not qualify as a change in circumstance as required under the Hindu Marriage Act. It was noted that the husband’s younger daughter was born from his marriage to his current wife, while the elder daughter was from her previous marriage with an Army personnel.
According to the court, there was no argument that the husband was aware of his wife’s first daughter from her previous marriage when he married her. The court noted that if the wife had known that the husband would refuse to support her first daughter, she would not have married him. The court also acknowledged that the husband had been providing for the elder daughter until the relationship between him and his wife deteriorated.
The court stated that the Army’s order recognizing the wife’s elder daughter as a family member of her late husband would not have any impact on the family court’s decision since the husband was already aware of the daughter’s existence and had agreed to take responsibility for her. Therefore, the court found no errors in the family court’s decision that there were no changes in circumstances that would allow for a modification of the order.
Source: https://www.livelaw.in/news-updates/delhi-high-court-wife-marriage-child-previous-marriage-husband-223170