The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (CrPc
Section-125. Order for maintenance of wives, children and
parents.
(1) If any person leaving sufficient means neglects or
refuses to maintain-
(a) His wife, unable to maintain herself, or
(b) His legitimate or illegitimate minor child, whether
married or not, unable to maintain itself, or
(c) His legitimate or illegitimate child (not being a
married daughter) who has attained majority, where such child is, by reason of
any physical or mental abnormality or injury unable to maintain itself, or
(d) His father or mother, unable to maintain himself or
herself,
A Magistrate of' the first class may, upon proof of such
neglect or refusal, order such person to make a monthly allowance for the
maintenance of his wife or such child, father or mother, at such monthly
rate1[***] as such magistrate thinks fit, and to pay the same to such person as
the Magistrate may from time to time direct:
Provided that the Magistrate may order the father of a minor
female child referred to in clause (b) to make such allowance, until she
attains her majority, if the Magistrate is satisfied that the husband of such
minor female child, if married, is not possessed of' sufficient means.
2[Provided further that the Magistrate may, during the
pendency of the Proceeding regarding monthly allowance for the maintenance
under this sub-section, order such person to make a monthly allowance for the
interim maintenance of his wife or such child, father or mother, and the
expenses of such proceeding which the Magistrate considers reasonable, and to
pay the same to such person as the Magistrate may from time to time direct:
Provided also that an application for the monthly allowance
for the interim maintenance and expenses for proceeding under the second
proviso shall, as far as possible, be disposed of within sixty days from the
date of the service of notice of the application to such person]
Explanation. For the purposes of this Chapter.
(a) Minor means a person who, under the provisions of the
Indian Majority Act, 1975 (9 of 1875) is deemed not to have attained his
majority;
(b) "Wife" includes a woman who has been divorced
by, or has obtained a divorce from, her husband and has not remarried.
3[(2) Any Such allowance for the maintenance or interim
maintenance and expenses for proceeding shall be payable from the date of the
order, or, if so ordered, from the date of the application for maintenance or
interim maintenance and expenses of proceeding, as the case may be.]
(3) If any Person so ordered fails without sufficient cause
to company with the order, any such Magistrate may, for every breach of the order,
issue a warrant for levying the amount due in the manner provided for levying
fines, and may sentence such person, for the whole, or any part of each month's
4[ allowance for the maintenance or the interim maintenance and expenses of
proceeding, as the case be,] remaining unpaid after the execution of the
warrant, to imprisonment for a term which may extend to one month or until
payment if sooner made:
Provided that no warrant shall be issued for the recovery of
any amount due under this section unless application be made to the court to
levy such amount within a period of one year from the dare on which it became
due:
Provided further that if such person offers to maintain his
wife on condition of her living with him, and she refuses to live with him,
such Magistrate may consider any grounds of refusal stated by her, and may make
an order under this section notwithstanding such offer, if he is satisfied that
there is just ground for so doing.
Explanation. If a husband has contracted marriage with
another woman or keeps a mistress, it shall be considered to just ground for
his wife's refusal to live with him.
(4) No wife shall be entitled to receive an allowance from
her husband under this section she is living in adultery, or if, without any
sufficient reason, she refuses to live with her, husband, or if they are living
separately by mutual consent.
(5) On proof that any wife in whose favour an order has been
made under this section is living in adultery, or that without sufficient
reason she refuses to, live with her, husband, or that they are living
separately by mutual consent, the Magistrate shall cancel the order.
Maintenance under
section 24 of Hindu Marriage Act in Divorce Petition.
Section 24 provides a relief by way of maintenance and
litigation expenses to a spouse who is unable to maintain itself during the
pendency of the proceedings;
Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, Sec 24.
Maintenance pendente lite and expenses of proceeding.-
Where in any
proceeding under this Act it appears to the court that either the wife or the
husband, as the case may be, has no independent income sufficient for her or
his support and the necessary expenses of the proceeding, it may, on the
application of the wife or the husband, order the respondent to pay to the
petitioner the expenses of the proceeding, and monthly during the proceeding
such sum as, having regards to the petitioner's own income and the income of
the respondent, it may seem to the Court to be reasonable :
[i][Provided that the application for the payment of the
expenses of the proceeding and such monthly sum during the proceeding, shall,
as far as possible, be disposed of within sixty days from the date of service
of notice on the wife or the husband, as the case may be.]
Maintenance under The
Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act 1956
Maintenance of wife
(1) Subject to
the provisions of this section, a Hindu wife, whether married before or after the commencement of
this Act, shall be entitled to be maintained by her husband during her
lifetime.
(2) A Hindu wife
shall be entitled to live separately from her husband without forfeiting her
claim to maintenance -
(a) If he is
guilty of desertion, that is to say, of abandoning her without reasonable cause
and without her consent or against her wish, or of willfully neglecting
her;
(b) If he has
treated her with such cruelty as to cause a reasonable apprehension in her mind
that it will be harmful or injurious to live with her husband;
(c) If he is suffering from a virulent from
of leprosy;
(d) If he has
any other wife living ;
(e) If he keeps
a concubine in the same house in which his wife is living or habitually resides
with a concubine elsewhere;
(f) if he has
ceased to be a Hindu by conversion to another religion ;
(g) if there is
any other cause justifying her living separately;
(3) A Hindu wife
shall not be entitled to separate residence and maintenance from her husband if
she is unchaste or ceases to be a Hindu by conversion to another religion.
Maintenance of
Widowed daughter-in-law
(1) A Hindu
wife, whether married before or after the commencement of this Act, shall be
entitled to be maintained after the death of her husband by her father-in-law.
PROVIDED and to the extent that she is unable to maintain
herself out of her own earnings or other property or, where she has no property
of her own, is unable to obtain maintenance -
(a) from the
estate of her husband or her father or mother, or
(b) from her
son or daughter, if any, or his or her estate.
(2) Any
obligation under sub-section (1) shall not be enforceable if the father- in-
law has not the means to do so from any
coparcenary property in his possession out of which the daughter-in-law has not
obtained any share, and any such
obligation shall cease on the re-marriage of the daughter-in-law.
Maintenance of
children and aged parents
(1) Subject to
the provisions of this section a Hindu is bound, during his or her lifetime, to
maintain his or her legitimate or illegitimate children and his or her aged or
infirm parents.
(2) A legitimate
or illegitimate child may claim maintenance from his or her father or mother so
long as the child is a minor.
(3) The
obligation of a person to maintain his or her aged or infirm parent or a
daughter who is unmarried extends insofar as the parent or the unmarried
daughter, as the case may be, is unable to maintain himself or herself out of
his or her own earnings or other property.
Explanation: In his section "parent” includes a
childless step-mother.
Maintenance of
dependents
(1) Subject to
the provisions of sub section (2) the heirs of a deceased Hindu are bound of
maintain the dependants of the deceased out of the estate inherited by them
from the deceased.
(2) Where a
dependant has not obtained, by testamentary or intestate succession, any share
in the estate of a Hindu dying after the
commencement of this Act, the dependant shall be entitled, subject to the
provisions of this Act, to maintenance from those who take the estate.
(3) The
liability of each of the persons who takes the estate shall be in proportion to
the value of the share or part of the estate taken by him or her.
(4)
Notwithstanding anything contained in sub section (2) or sub section
(3), no person who is himself or herself a dependant shall be liable to contribute to the maintenance of
others, if he or she has obtained a share or part the value of which is, or
would, if the liability to contribute were enforced, become less than what
would be awarded to him or her by way of maintenance under this Act.
Amount of maintenance
(1) It shall be
in the discretion of the court to determine whether any, and if so what,
maintenance shall be awarded under the provisions of this Act, and in doing so
the court shall have due regard to the considerations set out in sub- section (2), or sub- section(3), as
the case may be, so far as they are applicable.
(2) In
determining the amount of maintenance, if any, to be awarded to a wife,
children or aged or infirm parents under this Act, regard shall be had to.- (a)
the position and status of the parties;
(b) the
reasonable wants of the claimant ;
(c) if the
claimant is living separately, whether
the claimant is justified in doing so;
(d) the value of
the claimant's property and any income derived from such property , or from the
claimant's own earnings or from any other sources;
(e) the number of persons
entitled to maintenance under this Act
(3) In
determining the amount of maintenance, if any, to be awarded to a dependent
under this Act, regard shall be had to.-
(a) the net
value of the estate of the deceased
after providing for the payment of his debts;
(b) the
provision, if any, made under a will of the deceased in respect of the
dependant;
(c) the degree
of relationship between the two;
(d) the
reasonable wants of the dependant;
(e) the past
relations between the dependant and the deceased;
(f) the value
of the property of the dependant and any
income derived from such property; or from his or her earnings or from any
other source;
(g) the number
of dependants entitled to maintenance under this Act.
Maintenance under
The Protection of
Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005
Monetary reliefs.—
(1) While disposing of an application under sub-section (1)
of section 12, the Magistrate may direct the respondent to pay monetary relief
to meet the expenses incurred and losses suffered by the aggrieved person and
any child of the aggrieved person as a result of the domestic violence and such
relief may include but is not limited to—
(a) the loss of earnings;
(b) the medical expenses;
(c) the loss caused due to the destruction, damage or
removal of any property from the control of the aggrieved person; and
(d) the maintenance for the aggrieved person as well as her
children, if any, including an order under or in addition to an order of
maintenance under section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of
1974) or any other law for the time being in force.
(2) The monetary relief granted under this section shall be
adequate, fair and reasonable and consistent with the standard of living to
which the aggrieved person is accustomed.
(3) The Magistrate shall have the power to order an
appropriate lump sum payment or monthly payments of maintenance, as the nature
and circumstances of the case may require.
(4) The Magistrate shall send a copy of the order for
monetary relief made under sub-section (1) to the parties to the application
and to the in-charge of the police station within the local limits of whose
jurisdiction the respondent resides.
(5) The respondent shall pay the monetary relief granted to
the aggrieved person within the period specified in the order under sub‑section (1).
(6) Upon the failure on the part of the respondent to make
payment in terms of the order under sub‑section
(1), the Magistrate may direct the employer or a debtor of the respondent, to
directly pay to the aggrieved person or to deposit with the court a portion of
the wages or salaries or debt due to or accrued to the credit of the
respondent, which amount may be adjusted towards the monetary relief payable by
the respondent.
