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77. Mr. Joseph submitted that the decision is per incuriam. The matter is partly governed by the Travancore Special Marriage and Succession Act, 1119 (1944 of the Christian era). He appears to be right. Still more, the counsel referred to the provisions of the Kerala Children Act, 1972. The statute undoubtedly embodies the provisions, which show a recognition of the rights of the children.

78. The counsel for the parties also referred to various other decisions. On behalf of the appellants, reliance was primarily placed on the decision of the Bombay High Court in Philomina Mendozas case (supra). The petitioner was an illegitimate child. She claimed maintenance from her father who was a Parsi. Dealing with the issue the learned Judge, as briefly noticed earlier had observed as under :

".... The respondent is a Parsi. There is no code of law which governs the Parsis in this country, and except for the statutory law they are governed by the common law of England. Therefore, the question that arises is whether under the English common law there is any obligation upon a putative father to maintain his illegitimate child. So authoritative a textbook as Halsburys 'Laws of England, "Hailsham Edition Vol. II, at p. 579 expresses the emphatic opinion that the father of an illegitimate child, so long as it remains illegitimate, is not recognized by the law of England for civil purposes. Therefore, he is under no obligation to provide for the child in the absence of any affiliation order. Even a legitimate child has no right under the English common law to claim maintenance from its father. As pointed out by Halsbury in his Hailsham Edition, Vol. XVII, p. 671, except under the operation of the poor law, there is no actual legal obligation on a father or mother to maintain a child, unless the neglect to do so would bring the case within the criminal law. The only duty of a father to maintain his infant children is merely a moral obligation or a duty of imperfect obligation. it is true that the court of Chancery in England has in certain cases enforced this moral duty whenever it could do so. The only instance to which my attention has been drawn by Mr. Menezes is a case in (1828) 5 Rus, 154, where the father was adjudicated a lunatic and a committee was appointed for the management of his affairs. The father had four illegitimate children and they applied to the court to be paid maintenance out of his estate, and the court granted that application. It has to be remembered in this case that the father was adjudged a lunatic by a court that his estate was under the control of the court and that the father being under a moral obligation to maintain his infant children, the court enforced that moral obligation by paying to them out of the funds under its control their maintenance....