MAINTENANCE OF WIFE UNDER SECTION 125 OF CrPC
Only a wife (a woman who has been divorced or divorced from her husband and has not
remarried) may apply for maintenance under CrPC. A wife who, for legal reasons such as
(bigamy, cruelty & adultery), refuses to remain with her husband has the right to a special
allowance under this act. But whether she lives in adultery or lives apart by mutual consent, a
woman does not have the right to demand maintenance. The different CrPC sections are criminal
in nature and are used for criminal charges. The provisions in Section 125 of the CrPC are as
follows:
“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”
According to my knowledge, what I find in this section is different is that the magistrate has the
authority to grant the maintenance from the date of the order and if he gives the allowance from
the date of submission of the application, he / she has to give reasons why he / she gives the
maintenance from the date of the application.
“Also one more interesting and a vague thing which I found during the research on my research
paper is that a division of the Bombay High Court which said in its judgment that no
maintenance will be granted to the second wife of a Hindu.” This is, according to me, one of the
ambiguous judgments I have read in my law school for one and a half years. I would like to
evaluate this judgement on the grounds that this judgement differentiates between women in a
way and that there is also a gender bias aspect to this judgement. I am saying this on the fact that
it is not her responsibility if the women are a Hindu's second wife then it is her responsibility and
if she is totally financially reliant on the husband then what she has to do to live. This decision
would not be socially beneficial for the benefit of society as a whole.
Grant of maintenance to wife under Section 23(2):
HAMA, 1956, Section 23 clarifies or describes the persons who receive maintenance and how
much maintenance they can receive, i.e. the amount they can take into account the different
items. In the case of granting maintenance, the court has the right to provide the maintenance
after considering different factors. The factors considered by the court in compliance with
section 23(2) and section 23(3) are:
a) The position and status of the parties.
(b) The reasonable wants of the claimant1
(c) If the claimant is living apart, whether the claimant is justified in doing so or not,
(d) The value of the claimant’s property and any income genearyed from such property, or from
the claimants.
e) The number of individuals entitled to maintenance, if any, to be granted to a dependent
pursuant to this Act must be taken into account. –
(3) When deciding the amount of maintenance, if any, to be granted under this Act to a
dependent, consideration must be given to the dependent. –
(a) The net worth of the property of the deceased after the settlement of his debts has been paid
for.
1
https://www.legistify.com
(b) Provisions, if any, made in accordance with the will of the deceased with respect to the
deputy.
(c) The degree of relation between the two.
(d) The dependants' rational wishes.
(e) Previous ties between the deputy and the deceased person.
(f) The value of the dependent 's property and any revenue obtained from that property, or from
his earnings, or from any other source.
(g) The number of dependants eligible for maintenance pursuant to this Act.2
The court grants maintenance to the wife, taking into account various considerations such as the
status and position of the parties, the wishes of the wife, the value of the property and income of
the wife, if any, derived from that property, and the number of people entitled to maintenance.
The chapter notes that maintenance is established on the basis of a partnership decree between
the two parties. I don't know how the court can decide the husband-wife relationship decree, I
think the husband and wife can only decide the relationship decree, and the court has no
understanding and no law can describe a relationship. Even, tell if there is any dispute between
husband and the wife and the husband is abandoned by the wife. The husband still loves the
wife, and if the wife doesn't come back, what is the court's decree on the relationship between the
two?
2
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