Description

This provision establishes the legal obligation of a person with sufficient means to provide maintenance to certain dependent family members, including:

1. His wife, if she is unable to maintain herself.
2. His legitimate or illegitimate minor child, whether married or not, if the child cannot maintain itself.
3. His legitimate or illegitimate adult child, if the child (excluding a married daughter) is unable to maintain itself due to physical or mental disability or injury.
4. His father or mother, if they are unable to maintain themselves.

Magistrate’s Powers and Orders

• A Magistrate of the first class can order such a person to pay a monthly allowance for the maintenance of his wife, child, or parents if neglect or refusal is proven.
• If the husband of a minor married daughter does not have sufficient means, the Magistrate may order the father to pay maintenance until she attains majority.
• Interim maintenance and proceeding expenses may also be ordered during the case.
• The application for interim maintenance should ideally be decided within 60 days of service of notice.

Key Definitions

• "Minor": As per the Indian Majority Act, 1875, a person who has not attained majority.
• "Wife": Includes a divorced woman who has not remarried.

Enforcement of Orders

• Maintenance is payable from the date of the order or, if directed, from the date of the application.
• If the person fails to pay, the Magistrate can issue a warrant to recover the amount as per fine recovery provisions.
• If the amount remains unpaid, the Magistrate can sentence the person to imprisonment for up to one month or until the payment is made.
• The recovery application must be made within one year of the due date.

Wife’s Entitlement to Maintenance

• A wife loses her right to maintenance if she:
  • Lives in adultery.
  • Refuses to live with her husband without sufficient reason.
  • Lives separately by mutual consent.
• If an order has been passed in favor of the wife and she later starts living in adultery or refuses to live with her husband without a valid reason, the Magistrate shall cancel the order.