Father must fund adult unmarried daughter’s higher education, rules Karnataka HC

In a significant ruling on parental responsibility, the Karnataka High Court has held that a father is legally obligated to bear the educational expenses of his adult unmarried daughter, including the cost of postgraduate studies, observing that such responsibility does not automatically cease when a child attains majority.

Justice HP Sandesh dismissed a revision petition filed by a Mangaluru-based businessman challenging lower court orders directing him to reimburse Rs 16 lakh towards his daughter's admission and tuition fees for an MD (Dermatology) course at Fr Muller Medical College, Mangaluru.

The court ruled that monetary relief under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence (DV) Act is not confined to maintenance alone and can extend to educational expenses where warranted.

Father's arguments rejected

The dispute arose in 2024 after the daughter approached a magistrate's court seeking financial assistance for her postgraduate medical education. She informed the court that her admission fee was Rs 13.9 lakh, with an annual tuition fee of Rs 1.5 lakh, and that Rs 14 lakh had been borrowed from her grandfather to meet the initial expenses.

The magistrate's court directed the father to reimburse Rs 16 lakh in February, a decision later upheld by a sessions court in April.

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Before the High Court, the father argued that his daughter, born in August 2000, had attained majority and was therefore not entitled to monetary relief under the DV Act. He also contended that he had already financed her MBBS education, that she had voluntarily chosen postgraduate studies instead of entering medical practice, and that she was receiving a monthly stipend of Rs 60,000 during her MD course, making her financially self-sufficient.

Parental duty extends beyond majority age

Rejecting these arguments, Justice Sandesh observed that parental obligations towards education and basic welfare continue even after a child becomes an adult.

"It is the obligation of the parents to provide basic amenities, health and education, which cannot be said to be extinguished on the child attaining majority," the court said.

The judge further noted that the DV Act recognises "economic abuse" as deprivation of financial resources to which an aggrieved person is entitled under law or custom, adding that parents have a moral obligation to provide education.

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Taking into account the father's financial capacity, the court observed that he operated a flourishing business involving transactions worth crores of rupees and had demonstrated substantial financial resources through multiple loans availed and repaid in recent years. It concluded that the daughter was still engaged in continuous professional education and was not yet independently earning, making the father's financial support both justified and necessary.