New Delhi, Aug. 8 (PTI): A court ordered the son of a 75-year-old widow to double her monthly allowance to Rs 1,000, brushing aside his claims of financial limitations because of “a large family”.

The widow had approached the court seeking a higher maintenance amount from her son.

“Sparing Rs 1,000 for your mother would not be a harsh liability on you, especially since she is more than 75 years of age and may not survive for long,” the court told the woman’s son, a railway employee.

“Dulari Devi is residing in her own house. The fact that she is old also suggests that over and above the minimum requirement of clothes and rations, she might also be needing some amount towards medical aid,” additional sessions judge Narottam Kaushal said.

Modifying an order of a metropolitan magistrate directing her son, Om Prakash, to pay Rs 500 per month, the court said: “Merely Rs 500 per month for an old lady is, of course, too meagre. I, therefore, hold that Dulari is entitled to be paid at the rate of Rs 1,000 per month.”

Dulari Devi was awarded the maintenance of Rs 500 by the metropolitan magistrate in January on a petition filed under Section 125 of the Criminal Procedure Code (maintenance of wives, children and parents).

In her revision petition, her counsel argued that the amount was too small for an old lady, even as her son had an assured monthly income of Rs 10,000.

Her son, however, contended that he had two unmarried daughters and was under financial constraints on account of a large family.

“There is no evidence to reflect that Dulari Devi has any independent source of income. Her right to claim maintenance cannot be disputed. Similarly, the respondent’s liability to maintain his mother can not also be disputed,” the court said.

“Judicial notice can be taken of the fact that even for a person of lower middle class, a respectable amount to lead a decent life in old age will be between Rs 3,000 and Rs 4,000 per month,” it added.