Maintenance
Also called: Alimony, Interim maintenance
Provision for food, clothing, residence, education and medical attendance, and for an unmarried daughter her marriage expenses (Section 3(b) HAMA). Claimable under personal law and under Section 144 BNSS.
Explained
Indian law defines maintenance in more than one statute. Under Section 3(b) of the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956, maintenance includes in all cases provision for food, clothing, residence, education and medical attendance and treatment, and in the case of an unmarried daughter also the reasonable expenses of and incident to her marriage. Under Section 2(b) of the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007, it includes provision for food, clothing, residence and medical attendance and treatment.
The right exists under personal law and under a secular criminal law remedy. Under HAMA, a Hindu wife is entitled to be maintained by her husband (Section 18), a widowed daughter-in-law by her father-in-law in the circumstances stated (Section 19), children and aged or infirm parents by a Hindu (Section 20), and dependants by the heirs out of the estate (Section 22), with the amount left to the court's discretion on the factors in Section 23. The Hindu Marriage Act provides maintenance pendente lite (Section 24) and permanent alimony (Section 25).
The secular remedy is Section 144 of the BNSS, earlier Section 125 of the CrPC. A Magistrate of the first class may order a person of sufficient means who neglects or refuses to maintain his wife, his child, or his father or mother, unable to maintain themselves, to pay a monthly allowance. Interim maintenance may be ordered during the proceeding, and that application should as far as possible be decided within sixty days of service of notice. Wife includes a divorced woman who has not remarried. A wife living in adultery, refusing without sufficient reason to live with her husband, or living separately by mutual consent is not entitled. The Supreme Court has held that a divorced Muslim woman may also use this remedy.
Examiners test the definition, who may claim under Section 144, the sixty day target for interim maintenance, the grounds of disentitlement, and the guidelines on overlapping claims and disclosure of assets.
What the law says
(b) “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 and incident to her marriage;
Clause (b) defines maintenance
(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 wilfully 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;
Maintenance of a Hindu wife
(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 in so far 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 this section “parent” includes a childless step-mother.
Maintenance of children and aged parents
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 rate 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 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 female child, if married, is not possessed of sufficient means:
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:
Secular remedy for wives, children and parents
Earlier law: CRPC 125. Order for maintenance of wives, children and parents.
Section 2, Senior Citizens Act
(b) “maintenance” includes provisions for food, clothing, residence and medical attendance and treatment;
Clause (b) defines maintenance for senior citizens
Earlier law: Section 125, CrPC
For the exam
- Section 3(b) HAMA includes marriage expenses of an unmarried daughter.
- Section 144 BNSS (earlier Section 125 CrPC): wife, child, father or mother; Magistrate of the first class.
- Interim maintenance application to be decided, as far as possible, within 60 days of notice.
- Divorced wife who has not remarried is a wife for Section 144.
- No allowance if wife lives in adultery, refuses without reason to live with husband, or separates by consent.
884 questions in the Law Maker question bank use this term. Practise Family Law questions
Judgments
- Rajnesh v. Neha (2020)Affirming interim maintenance to the wife and son, the Court issued country-wide directions under Article 142 on overlapping maintenance claims, a mandatory Affidavit of Disclosure of Assets and Liabilities, criteria for quantum, maintenance from the date of application, and enforcement.
- Mohd. Ahmed Khan v. Shah Bano Begum (1985)A five-Judge Bench held that a divorced Muslim wife unable to maintain herself may claim maintenance from her former husband under Section 125 CrPC, and that Mahr is not a sum payable 'on divorce' under Section 127(3)(b).
- Danial Latifi v. Union of India (2001)The Court upheld the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986, reading Section 3(1)(a) to require the husband to make, within the iddat period, a reasonable and fair provision for the divorced wife's future, not limited to iddat.
- Mohd. Abdul Samad v. State of Telangana (2024)A divorced Muslim woman may claim maintenance under Section 125 CrPC; the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986 adds to that remedy and does not displace it.
Related terms
- Domestic relationshipA relationship between two persons who live or have at any time lived together in a shared household, related by consanguinity, marriage, a relationship in the nature of marriage, adoption, or as joint family members.
- Aggrieved personUnder Section 2(a) of the Domestic Violence Act, 2005, any woman who is, or has been, in a domestic relationship with the respondent and alleges that the respondent subjected her to domestic violence.
- MinorA person who has not attained majority, which in India is ordinarily the completion of eighteen years. A minor cannot contract, and his agreement is void.
- AdoptionThe process by which a child is permanently separated from the biological parents and becomes the lawful child of the adoptive parents. Section 2(2), JJ Act; for Hindus, the HAMA, 1956.
- Shared householdUnder Section 2(s) of the Domestic Violence Act, 2005, a household where the aggrieved woman lives or at any stage has lived in a domestic relationship, whoever owns it, including a joint family household.
Further reading
- Maintenance, LegalFirms glossary
- The Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956, official text on India Code
- The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, official text on India Code
- The Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007, official text on India Code
- The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, official text on India Code
Checked 6 November 2026. Statutory text is quoted from the Bare Acts library, taken from India Code. See the full glossary.