Hindu Maintenance

MAINTENANCE
HINDU LAW
INTRODUCTION
 Manu,”The aged parents,a virtuous wife,an infant child must be
maintained even by doing a hundred misdeeds”.
 In undivided family the head is bound to maintain its

members,their wives and children.
 All entitled to maintenance.
 Hindu has personal obligation to maintain his wife,children and

aged parents.
 Legal obligation arises from existence of relationship between
parties.
 Present law imposes the duty of maintaining legitimate and
illegitimate minor children on both parents.
MAINTENANCE
 Maintenance is a right to get necessities which are reasonable from another.

 Maintenance includes not only food, clothes and residence, but also the things necessary for
the comfort and status in which the person entitled is reasonably expected to live.
 Right to maintenance is not a transferable
 Sec 3(b) Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act 1956
Maintenance include provision for
food,clothing,residence,education,medical attendance and treatment
(five basic requirement in life)
reasonable expenses of marriage of unmarried daughter.
Komalam Amma Vs.Kumara Pillai Raghavan Pillai AIR2009SC636

-Maintenance must include the provision for residence in addition to provision for food, clothing and the like--
Roof over one's head is a basic necessity of life
Ratio Decidendi:
"Hindu wife entitled to be maintained by her husband and to remain under his roof and protection. She is also entitled to
separate residence by reason of husband's conduct or his refusal to maintain her in his own place of residence or for
other just cause she is compelled to live apart from him. Right to residence is part and parcel of wife's right to
maintenance."
Maintenance under 3 heads
 Maintenance under Hindu Adoptions and
Maintenance Act 1956
 Maintenance under Hindu Marriage Act 1956
 Maintenance under section 125 of Criminal

Procedure Code
HINDU ADOPTIONS & MAINTENANCE ACT
1956
Section 18 of Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act 1956 provides
1) Maintenance
2) Separate Residence
Provided-
1) She is Hindu
2) Chaste
Section 18 (1)-A Hindu wife shall be entitled to be maintained by her
husband during her lifetime.
Effect of Husband ceasing to be Hindu: liability would not be absolved
The relief of maintenance under Hindu Marriage Act 1955 is available
only upon filing for the main relief like divorce, restitution of conjugal
rights or judicial separation etc.
Grounds for award of maintenance
(Right of separate residence)
She is entitled to live separately from husband without forfeiting her claim to maintenance-
Only upon proving that at least one of the grounds mentioned under
a. The husband has deserted her, abandoning or has willfully neglected her;
b. The husband has treated her with cruelty;
c. The husband is suffering from virulent form of leprosy/venereal diseases or any other
infectious disease;
d. The husband has any other wife living;
e. The husband keeps the concubine in the same house as the wife resides or he habitually
resides with the concubine elsewhere;
f. The husband has ceased to a Hindu by conversion to any other religion;
g. Any other cause justifying her separate living
Maintenance under Hindu Marriage Act 1955
 Sec 24 ,HMA 1955-maintenance pendente lite

 Whether the party has no independent income sufficient for
her support and the necessary expenses of the
proceeding.(interim relief)
 Spouse weak in financial position can claim
 Sec 25,permanent maintenance (fixed at the time of decree)
 Mumbai family court denies maintenance under HMA 24 to
MBA qualified HR professional wife
Section 24/25 HMA 1955 Section 18 HAMA 1956
Relief to hus/wife Relief to hindu wife

Maintanance Pendente lite arises during
pendency of suit
Permanent alimony arises after
matrimonial cases stands decided
Granted for period of litigation Granted not exceeding the life of

applicant
No ground under 24 must be litigation Ground for divorce under sec 13 HMA
pending 1955
Spouse has right of maintenance and Wife has two rights a]maintenance
expenses b]separate residence
MAINTENANCE UNDER 125 OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE CODE
Order for maintenance of wives, children and parents. (irrespective of

religion)
(1) If any person having 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

 The wife -- husband
 The Child -- father
 The father and the mother -- the son.
 The silence of law respecting the liability of the daughter.
 The Wife to be a Legally Married Woman.
 The legality of marriage decided under personal law.
 In a case of illegality due to bigamy, the victim has to suffer and
the perpetrator goes scot-free.
 Plea of Ignorance of first marriage refused by court stressing the
paramount nature of legislative intention.
 Badshah v. sou urmila badshah godse AIR (2014)SC 869

If a man has deceitfully kept his 2nd wife in the dark about his 1st
marriage he is legally bound to provide for her & their children
under sec. 125 although she cannot be treated as a “legally
wedded wife”
Eligibility to Maintenance.
 Living in adultery, means not a single act, shall not

be used in a way to harass the wife.
 Wife must not refuse, without sufficient reasons, to
live with her husband.
 The wife not living separately by mutual consent.
 Person claiming maintenance must not be capable
of maintaining herself.
 The wife not living separately by mutual consent.
Procedure: Maintenance Order
 The amount to be modestly consistent with the status of the

family.
 The removal of ceiling of Rs 500/- per month and the fixing
of time-frame through Amendment Act, 2001
 Warrant is issued on every breach of the order for levying the
amount.
 The imprisonment of one month is a last resort when recourse
to attachment and sale fail.
 The imprisonment is to pressurize enforcement and not a mode
to satisfy the liability.
Section 24 Section 125
Wife/husband unable to maintain when Grants while case is pending or at

case is pending disposal of case
Civil in nature Criminal in nature
Either spouse is entitled Parents,wife & children
Expenses for legal proceeding Expenses for bare necessities only
Applicable to hindus Applicable to all

Hindu Maintenance

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MAINTENANCE

 In undivided family the head is bound to maintain its

 Hindu has personal obligation to maintain his wife,children and

 Maintenance is a right to get necessities which are reasonable from another.

Komalam Amma Vs.Kumara Pillai Raghavan Pillai AIR2009SC636

 Maintenance under Hindu Marriage Act 1956

 Maintenance under section 125 of Criminal

 Sec 24 ,HMA 1955-maintenance pendente lite

Relief to hus/wife Relief to hindu wife

Granted for period of litigation Granted not exceeding the life of

Order for maintenance of wives, children and parents. (irrespective of

(a) his wife, unable to maintain herself, or

(d) his father or mother, unable to maintain himself or herself

 Badshah v. sou urmila badshah godse AIR (2014)SC 869

 Living in adultery, means not a single act, shall not

 The amount to be modestly consistent with the status of the

Wife/husband unable to maintain when Grants while case is pending or at

Civil in nature Criminal in nature

Either spouse is entitled Parents,wife & children

Expenses for legal proceeding Expenses for bare necessities only

Applicable to hindus Applicable to all

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