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LAHORE: The Lahore High Court has ruled that a father cannot escape his continuing legal, moral and religious obligation to maintain his minor child through a private settlement, holding that a minor’s right to maintenance cannot be permanently waived or extinguished.
Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani dismissed a petition filed by Akhtar Hussain Awan against concurrent judgements of family and appellate courts. Those earlier judgements allowed a maintenance claim filed by a minor, Naseer Akhtar Awan, through his mother, Sadia Awan.
The petitioner argued that an earlier maintenance suit was settled through a 2007 compromise, under which Rs60,000 was paid and parties agreed not to raise future claims.
He contended a subsequent 2019 suit was barred by limitation and the principles of res judicata, a legal doctrine preventing a matter from being judged twice.
