Right to Maintenance; A Brief Analysis
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- Right to Maintenance; A Brief Analysis
Right to Maintenance; A Brief Analysis
We all know that money and its regular flow is a sine qua non for decent survival. It is submitted that the housewives’, especially those who are not working and solely focus on the well-being of their family, sources of means are largely, if not entirely, are their husbands and in-laws.
The problem arises when the housewives get entangled in matrimonial disputes, and their husbands stop paying money and sufficient means to them and leave the aggrieved wives at their fate. More often than not, such women don’t get enough support from their parents as well.
At this juncture, the law comes in and provides various mediums for such aggrieved women to seek money/ maintenance from their husbands, in-laws, etc.
Through this piece of writing, we may be able to comprehend the fundamental provisions providing legal remedies to such aggrieved women so that they can secure money/ maintenance from the concerned people involved in a given case.
Maintenance as per the Indian Laws
There are various provisions as per the Indian laws dealing with the issue of maintenance. There are some religion-specific laws, and others are secular in nature furnishing equal opportunity to the females to seek maintenance from their husbands. A brief of some notable provisions of law on the issue of maintenance is stipulated hereinafter.
The Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956[1] defines maintenance as:
“Maintenance” includes—
(i) in all cases, provision for food, clothing, residence, education, and medical attendance and treatment;
(ii) in the case of an unmarried daughter, also the reasonable expenses of an incident to her marriage;
Moreover, there are various other provisions dealing with maintenance. Section 24 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 provides the right to maintenance pendelite to the party who has insufficient means to support himself or herself. It is out of place to mention that section 24 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 is a gender-neutral provision, but it indeed opens the doors to seek maintenance for the aggrieved women.
It is submitted that the aforesaid provisions assist Hindu women only, and women of other religions may need to take shelter from the following secular provisions of law.
The Code of the Criminal Procedure, 1872 (for brevity “the CrPC”) encompasses procedural laws of the criminal cases and criminal courts across the nation. Section 125 of the CrPC provides the right to a wife, has insufficient means to sustain herself, to seek maintenance from her husband. It is apposite to mention that the scope of section 125 of the CrPC is not restricted to the maintenance of the wives only. However, the other facets of section 125 are not the subject matter of this piece of writing, and therefore the same is not discussed herein for the sake of brevity and to avoid prolixity.
On the lines of secular provisions of law qua maintenance, The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2002 (hereinafter the “DV Act”) deserves a notable mention. The DV Act has been considered as a watershed moment for all the female victims of domestic violence as the Act provides various reliefs including maintenance and other forms of monetary relief to the aggrieved female victims. The DV Act allows the concerned court to award maintenance to a female victim of domestic violence. It is worth noting that the scope of the DV Act is not restricted to a legally wedded wife, but also covers other female victims of domestic violence. However, the statute doesn’t furnish any remedy to the male victims of domestic violence, nor is there any specific provision of law as per the Indian laws dealing with the pain and agony of such male victims.
Though there are some other provisions of law dealing with the issue of maintenance, the same are not elucidated herein in order to keep this piece short and precise. Ergo, the aforesaid provisions/ list of the provisions must not be assumed as an exhaustive list. Needless to say, the other provisions qua maintenance also aim to achieve the same ends as the aforementioned provisions do.
Notable case laws
In order to understand the true scope and meaning of a given provision of law, the study of the relevant case laws and judicial precedents are required. In India, the courts follow the judicial precedents and the case laws of the Constitutional Courts i.e., the High Courts, and the Supreme Court of India in order to maintain uniformity across the nation. Ergo, a few important case laws are being briefly discussed below in order to attain a comprehensive understanding of the provisions dealing with the maintenance.
The Hon’ble Supreme Court of India in the case of Shome Nikhil Danani vs. Tanya Banon Danani[2] held that a woman is not debarred from claiming maintenance under the DV Act in a case where she has already secured some maintenance under section 125 of the CrPC.
The said case law signifies that one order of maintenance doesn’t preclude an aggrieved woman from claiming other monetary reliefs available as per the law. However, as per the settled law, the previous orders of maintenance shall be counted and considered by a court dealing with the subsequent claims of maintenance by a woman
2. Rajnesh vs. Neha
The Apex Court in the case of Rajnesh vs. Neha[3] has observed that the DV Act allows a female aggrieved person to seek a residence order either in the same house as her husband, or in alternate, the aggrieved wife may secure the same level of accommodation as enjoyed by her in the shared household.
The Delhi High Court in the said case has clarified that the DV Act furnishes various reliefs to an aggrieved female person including the right to accommodation or alternate accommodation.
3. Smt. Ranjeeta @ Ravita vs. State of U.P. and Another
The Hon’ble High Court of Allahabad in the case of Smt. Ranjeeta @ Ravita vs. State of U.P. and Another[4] has observed that a trial court dealing with the application of maintenance is empowered to award maintenance from the date of order in the presence of cogent and reasonable reasons.
4. Sunita Kachwaha vs. Anil Kachwaha
The Hon’ble Apex Court in the case of Sunita Kachwaha vs. Anil Kachwaha[5] has laid down the following conditions for maintenance under section 125 of the CrPC.
From the perusal of the aforesaid discussion, it can be concluded that there are sufficient provisions of law for women in India to seek maintenance. Though the court orders and judgments can’t restore the hardships and ordeals of the aggrieved women, the same can surely bring confidence in the hearts of the aggrieved women to stand on their feet and seek justice and monetary relief which all the women are legally as well as morally entitled to.
References
[1] Section 2(b) of the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956
[2] MANU/ SC/ 1192/ 2019
[3] MANU/SC/ 0833/2020
[4] 2023: AHC: 100373
[5] AIR 2015 SC 554
