252ND Report On Right Of Hindu Wife To Maintenance: A Relook At Section 18 Of The Hindu Adoption And Maintenance Act, 1956 (By-Ishika Agarwal)

252ND Report On Right Of Hindu Wife To Maintenance: A Relook At Section 18 Of The Hindu Adoption And Maintenance Act, 1956

Authored By-Ishika Agarwal

Abstract

In Avtar Singh vs. Jasbir Singh (RSA No. 29/1988 (O&M) in its call dated eleven.02.2014, the state supreme court of geographic area and Haryana control that a lacuna within the position of Hindu wives qua their property and maintenance rights, whose husband is unable to supply maintenance to her, exists below Section eighteen of Hindu wedding Act.

The 1956 Adoptions and Maintenance Act was discovered.This article is counteracted into five sections-1) Introduction 2)Section eighteen vis-a-vis Section nineteen of the Hindu adoption and Maintenance Act 3) Joint Hindu Family and Hindu Coparcenary 4)Right to Maintenance in Classical Hindu Law 5) planned modification to the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act.

Keywords: Classical Hindu Law, Father-in-Law Liability,Maintenance, Hindu wife, Husband's disability,Amendments,Hindu coparcenary,Commission, Joint Hindu family

Introduction

"Women make up half of the Indian population as well." Women have always been discriminated against and have suffered and continue to suffer in silence. Despite their dignity and tenacity in self-sacrifice and self-denial, they have been exposed to all injustices, indignities, and prejudice."    

                                    —In Madhu Kishwar vs. State of Bihar, Justice K.RamaSwamy1.

Marriage is the bedrock of any civilization. It is a must-have for family harmony and stability. As a result, legislators all over the world have granted some rights and put certain responsibilities on husbands and wife, who are crucial members of any family. Marriage was thought to be decided by God in ancient times, and divinity was connected with it2 It is regarded as a holy social institution.Marriage is a sacred union for the execution of religious responsibilities, according to Hindu Law. Marriage is a Sanskar or Sacrament3, not a transaction. The Sanskar ruled that once a virgin is married, she must maintain her chastity both after and before her husband's death4. "Wife, according to the Mahabharata, is not only a source of Dharma, Artha, and Kama, but also of Moksha." 5Wife is supposed to be her husband's soul in the Ramayana. She is Grihini [the lady of the House], Sachiva [the wise Counsellor], and Sakhi [her husband's buddy]. She is Griha Laxmi, Ardhangini (half of him), and Samrajya6 all rolled into one.

Hindu wedding protects a lady by guaranteeing her legal rights for restitution of legal right just in case of desertion7, legitimacy of the youngsters, relief just in case of cruelty8, adultery, 9impotence claim of maintenance and alimony, and order for maintenance to a wife who is unable to support herself. Husband and wife are the two wheels of a family chariot, and it is only natural that over time, they inadvertently fall into disagreement. Despite the passage of several laws, India's male-dominated society does not permit even the slightest increase in the position of a married

woman.As a result, the Indian home has become the safest location for [1]males to conduct violence against defenceless women. To address this long-standing problem, the Hindu Marriage Act (HMA) of 1955, the Hindu Succession Act (HAS) of 1956, the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act (HAMA) of 1956, and the Hindu Guardian and Wards Act (HGWA) of 1956 were passed. Through the policies and legislation described above, the state attempts to empower married women. However, as a result of its insufficient execution, the constitutionally mandated notion of equality remains a mere paper blessing, far far from the touch of reality. As a result, under the Hindu Adoptions and Support Act of 1956, a Hindu woman is not entitled to maintenance from her husband's family. This dilemma is caused by patriarchal standards.

1.1 In a decision in  Avtar Singh vs. Jasbir Singh, RSA No. 29/1988 (O&M),10 judgement dated 11.02.2014, the Hon'ble High Court of Punjab and Haryana ruled.A lacuna in the position of Hindu women qua their property and maintenance rights under the existence of law was identified. In the said case,the plaintiff was the wife of a man of unsound mind,who had sought one fourth share in the land belonging to the family,from her father in law as maintenance for herself, her husband and her minor sons. The said share had been provided to her by the father in law through a family settlement before the gram panchayat, but the wife was later forcibly disposed of the land by her father in law and brother in law. Since the said property had been voluntarily given by the father in law to his son of unsound mind and his family through a family settlement, A gap in the present law's treatment of Hindu women's property and maintenance rights was found.

1.2  In the above mentioned instance, the Plaintiff was the wife of a man of unsound mind who wanted 1/4 of the estate from her father in law as for security, for her husband and her minor sons. The above-mentioned portion was granted to her by her father-in-law through a family settlement before the Gram Panchayat, but the wife was afterwards forcibly evicted off the land by

her father-in-law and brother-in-law. Since the substantial question of law regarding the legal obligations of the father in law in such situations was not raised because the said property had been voluntarily given by the father in law to his son of unsound mind and his family through a family settlement, and the case was decided on the basis of whether the said family settlement had been made before the gram panchayat and if yes then it need to be registered in order to be valid. However, before leaving this with this case,the Ld. Judge made the following scenario to a given legal position of Hindu wives:

‘Before passing judgement, it is necessary to state that no provision has been brought to my attention by experienced counsel for the parties that if the husband is mad or of unsound mind, the daughter in law who does not have any source of maintenance can seek maintenance for herself. When she needs to support her mentally ill husband, her situation is far worse than that of a bereaved daughter in law. In such a case, the wife should be considered dependent on her father-in-law and entitled to support under Section 19 of this act.

A copy of this Order is being given to the Union Ministry of Law and Justice and the Law Commission of India in order for them to take appropriate action to modify the Act."

1.3 In light of the above mentioned advice, the Law Commission of India resolved to investigate the matter.

1.4 likewise, the commission formed a Committee for a specific purpose comprising of

Justice (Retd.) Ajit Prakash Shah, Chairman, Law Commission of India, Ms. Usha Mehra,who is a member of Law Commission of India, Ms. Dipika Jain, Associate Professor, Jindal Global University, Sonepat, and Mr. Saptarishi Mandal who is Assistant Professor, Jindal Global Universityin Sonepat.

1.5. The Committee conducted a detailed study of the topic and studied all relevant legislation in this respect, including the requirements of the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956, as well as traditional Hindu law.

_______________________________

10 3 RSA No. 29/1988 (O&M), decision dated 11.02.2011

Aims And Objectives Of This Commission Reports Of Hindu Adoption And Maintenance Act

a. To examine the Indian judiciary and legal intellectuals' reactions to the Hindu wife's right to maintenance under the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act of 1956.

b. To compare the current condition of:

i. Hindu wife's right to maintenance under Section 18 of the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act of 1956

ii. Widowed daughter-in-right law's to maintenance under Section 19 of the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956

iii. Right to Maintenance of a Hindu wife whose husband is unable to provide her with support under the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act of 1956

c. Research the right to maintenance in traditional Hindu law.

d. To propose remedial steps to ameliorate the miseries of a woman whose husband is unable to give her with support under India's Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956.

As it talks about the maintenance and separate residents of a wife and a Hindu wife married before or after the commencement of this act, shall be entitled to be maintained by her husband during her lifetime. A Hindu wife shall be entitled to live separately from her husband without forfeiting  her claim to maintenance. A Hindu wife shall not be entitled to separate residence and maintenance from her husband if she is unchaste or ceases to be Hindu by conversion to another religion.

Right To Maintenance Of Hindu Women Under Adoption And Maintenance Act

The premise of an undivided family gives birth to the right to maintenance. The leader of such a family is obligated to support its members, including their wives and children. Manu declares that "the ageing mother and father, the chaste mate, associate degreed an baby kid should be unbroken even supposing 100 faults area unit committed..Maintenance is defined as the right to obtain reasonable requirements. Maintenance is defined under Section 3(b) of the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act of 1956.

Maintenance is defined in this section.

 in all situations, provision for food, clothing, lodging, education, and medical attendance and treatment; and (ii) in the event of an unmarried daughter, reasonable costs incurred as a result of her marriage. (c) A "minor" is someone who is years of age.

 State of Haryana v. Smt. Santra,  it was held that it is a liability created by Hindu Law and arises out of jural relation of the partie

Existing Provision Of Hindu Adoption And Maintenance Act,1956

3.1 Section 18 of the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act states that the Husband must support the wife through the whole life. Section 19, on the other hand, refers to a bereaved daughter in law's claim to support from her father in law.

3.2 As a result, under the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, the wife of a disabled person does not have the right to maintenance against the husband's relatives, even if the husband is of a joint family. Such women's sole options for obtaining maintenance are to bring a suit for partition of her husband's estate or to file for divorce in order to claim maintenance.However, both take time in our country leaving the women in such condition with no immediate remedy whatsoever for herself as also for the children.

3.3 In order to point out this issue, It is difficult to take a brief background analysis of the prevailing position of this law.

In Raj Kishore Mishra v. Smt. Meena Mishra, the court decided that a father-in-responsibility law to support his daughter-in-law from any coparceny property in his possession in which the daughter-in-law has not received any portion is unenforceable. The purpose of this Section is to clarify that a widowed daughter-in-law can only claim maintenance from her father-in-law if she is unable to support herself from her own assets or the estate of her husband, father, mother, son, or daughter. It is also stated that the father-in-law is not obligated to support his daughter-in-law

unless there is some ancestral property in his possession from which the daughter-in-law has not benefited.

Joint Hindu Family And Hindu Coparcenary

On the other hand, is a far more restricted idea than a Hindu household. On4.1 A joint Hindu family is made up of all people who are lineally derived from the same ancestor, as well as their spouses and unmarried daughters. The combined Hindu family was recognized as the typical state of a Hindu family in traditional Hindu law. It should be highlighted that this notion of Hindu family joint-ness is distinct from any sense of joint-ness in property ownership.According to Mulla's Principles of Hindu Law, "the possession of joint estate is not a necessary need to establish a joint family, and a family may be joint even if it owns no property."11 According to authoritative decisions, "Hindus acquire joint family status by birth, and joint family property is just an appendage of the joint family."12 However, if a Hindu family has a joint estate and then the members divide their estates, the family ceases to be a joint Hindu family.

4.2  A coparcener, only those who obtain a birth stake in the joint family property or coparcenary property are included. These members were the sons, grandsons, and great grandchildren of the last holder of the joint property in Hindu law. Members now include the daughters of the coparceners, thanks to a 2005 change to the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 as the members also include daughters of coparceners.Although the daughters are now included in the coparcenary, other female members of the family, such as the mother, wife, and daughter-in-law, are not coparceners, despite being joint family members. The later members may not have the same rights as the coparceners when it comes to joint family property, but they do have all of the same general rights to housing and maintenance as other members of the joint family.

Right To Maintenance In Classical Hindu Law

5.1 The traditional Hindu maintenance law was created in such a way that no member of the joint family, particularly the female members, should be left without provision. Maintenance was a high responsibility that a Hindu owed to all people who were dependent on him, and it applied to both the person and the property, including joint family property purchasers.

5.2 The preceding notion was founded on the assumption that upkeep is an essential component of the joint family concept. Paras Diwan and Peeyushi Diwan, family law academics, point out the importance of the concept of joint-ness in family life in understanding the foundation of maintenance.

 Every member of a joint family has a claim to maintenance against the joint family property.

It was the karta's responsibility to ensure that all reasonable needs of the family members were met.If the karta failed to fulfil his duty, the member could compulsory enforce it by legal actions.  Maintenance remained important even after the notion of self-acquired property and the coparcenor's power of division emerged. The notion of maintenance, on the other hand, expanded and matured. Previously, the right could only be used against particular properties; today, it may also be used against certain people.13

It is obvious from the preceding that, while Indian Hindu women have increased their rights through time, the rights accessible to them do not match the rights necessary. The Indian judiciary is seen to be equivocal in this setting. This decision was reinforced in Masilamani Mudliar vs. idol of sri swaminathswami thirukoli, in which the SC determined that personal laws are null and invalid to the degree that they violate the Fundamental Rights.

5.3  The need to provide maintenance arises under two situations in traditional Hindu law. It is either an occurrence of the parties' connection that results in a personal responsibility to pay maintenance, or it is a result of the parties' relationship.. Several experts also point out that traditional Hindu law distinguished between moral and legal maintenance rights14. If a male hindu.

____________________________________________________

11 pg358

12 Janakiram v Nagomony,(1926) Mad98

In some circumstances, the requirement to support specific relations is predicated on the holding of property, like through inheritance, did not perform his moral obligations to pay maintenance during his lifecome. After his death, the responsibility would become a legal obligation that could be enforced against the deceased male's possessions. This demonstrates that a person's commitment to maintenance exists long after his death, while also emphasising the importance of maintenance in traditional Hindu law.

5.4  All prominent academics and commentators agree that providing maintenance to the wife is a "personal responsibility" of the husband that emerges from the reality of marriage, from the moment the marriage takes place15 In classical legislation on maintenance, a woman has a particular status, and refusing to keep her draws harsher punishment than refusing to maintain other family members. Shastri's explanation of the idea is very instructive and pertinent to our situation:

 The establishment of such a relation, ipso facto, provides a right to the wife as a maintenance from her husband,, a right for the daughter-in-law to get maintenance from her father-in-law in the event that her husband is unable to provide for her, and a right for the widow to receive maintenance from her husband's property or from those in charge of his property.

In Raj Kishore Mishra v. Smt. Meena Mishra, 23 the Court decided that a father-in-responsibility law is not enforceable if he lacks the means to support his daughter-in-law from any coparcenary property in his possession from which the daughter-in-law has received no portion. The purpose of this Section is to make it plain to widowed daughter-in-law is entitled to support.only if she is unable to support herself from her own property or the wealth of her father-in-law.

_______________________________________

13 Diwan,Paras and Peeyushi diwan (1990). Law of maintenance in India,New delhi: Deep and Deep, Pp

14 Diwan, Paras and Piyush Diwan (1990). Law of Maintenance in India. New Delhi: Deep & Deep, p. 17; Aggarwal, S.N. (1988). Commentary on the Law of Maintenance. 3rd review edition. Allahabad: Orient Publishing. p. 315 Diwan, Paras and Piyush Diwan (1990). Law of Maintenance in India. New Delhi: Deep & Deep, p. 39; Aggarwal, S.N. (1988). Commentary on the Law of Maintenance. 3rd review edition. Allahabad: Orion Publishing. p. 8; Sharma, Preeti (1990). Hindu Women’s Right to Maintenance. New Delhi: Deep & Deep. P. 77; Gupte, N.Y.(2001). Law Relating to  Family Courts Act, 1984. 3rd Edition. Mumbai: Ravindra. p. 153

Her spouse, father, mother, son, or daughter are all examples of family members. It is also stated that the father-in-law should be under no obligation except where there is any ancestral property in his name, he has a responsibility to sustain his daughter-in-law possession that the daughter-in-law does not have share.

5.5  The above said viewpoint is mirrored in court rulings as well.. The woman sought support from the husband's relatives for herself and her kid. The Bombay High Court ruled as follows::In the case of Ramabai v Trimbak Hindu deity Desai,15 the husband, associate degree undivided member of a Hindu joint family, had abandoned the married woman.

Without a doubt, the authorities do not establish that an abandoned wife's relatives are personally liable to support her; but, they do establish that she is entitled to one-third of her husband's property revenues to support her.

5.6  The wife's claim to maintenance from her husband's relatives was therefore maintained by the High Court, despite the fact that the latter had no personal responsibility to do so. The fact that this judgement is quoted in the authoritative book Mayne's Hindu Law & Usage16  to highlight the wife's established right to obtain maintenance from the husband's family members attests to the validity of this decision.

5.7 Following the above and other similar judgments, the Madras High Court stated in Gopala Pattar v Parvathi Ammal,17 "It is difficult to see any distinction between the position

of a widow who has been obligated to enforce her charge for maintenance of an abandoned spouse who  is obligated to try to do the same………….If she possesses this right against her husband individually, she can enforce it by attaching and selling his property, which is an undivided portion of the joint family property

____________________________________________

15 (1872) 9 Bom HC 283

16 Misra, Ranganath and Vijender Kumar (Ed.) Mayne’s Hindu Law & Usage. 16th Edition. New Delhi: Bharat Law House. p. 1285

17 AIR 1929 Mad 47

A charge therefore so long. If the husband is alive and available, it is of little benefit to the wife because she can effectively enforce a charge in execution; however, if the husband should die or abscond, her right would be severely harmed because she would be unable to enforce the personal obligation and would have to institute proceedings against the family and the family property.

5.8 The High Court directed that the husband's half of the joint family property be used to pay maintenance to the abandoned wife.

5.9 Mulla's Principles of Hindu Law, another authoritative exposition on both classical and modern Hindu law, quotes Mitakshara, Chapter II, section 10, and says,

"When a person is excluded from inheritance on account of disability, he, his wife, and children are entitled to maintenance out of the property which he would have inherited but for the disability, and where he is excluded from a share on account of disability, he, his wife, and children are entitled to maintenance out of the property.18

On 13 February, 1928 the Madras High Court In Gopala Pattar v Parvathi Ammal also principle the above thinking and observed: “It is difficult to see any distinction between the  position of a widow UN agency has been duty-bound to enforce her charge for maintenance which of AN abandoned mate UN agency is duty-bound to try to to identical.

5.10  Mulla continues by stating that such a wife's claim to support is "conditioned upon her ongoing chastity."19

 It is important to note that, according to Section 28 of the Hindu Succession Act 1956, there is no longer any exclusion from inheritance based on "disease, disability, or deformity."

5.11 Thus, traditional Hindu law provides adequate support for imposing a legal responsibility on the father-in-law to support the daughter-in-law when the latter's husband is unable to do so. The preceding debate supports the Commission's legislative change, which attempts to clarify the father-in-responsibility law's to pay maintenance to the daughter-in-law under the law.

______________________________________

18 [7:09 pm, 05/04/2022l: Mulla, Principles of Hindu Law, Vol I, twentieth edition, (ed SA Desai), Third Reprint, 2009. New Delhi: LexisNexis Butterworths.p. 223

19 Ibid, at 888

Lacunae In The Present Law Of Maintenance

6.1 In the case of a second wife, there is no provision for a claim to maintenance.

A person cannot remarry while the first marriage is in sustenance, according to current law. A person's second marriage is unlawful and not recognised by the law. The Hindu marriage legislation makes no provision for this to the second wife's maintenance Despite the fact that there is legal precedence for the support of a second wife,

However, because there are no specific regulations requiring upkeep, it is up to the discretion of the owner and judges. The Indian laws have a loophole as a result of this lack. Husbands use these to defend themselves20. As a result, clear and strong laws for the second wife are required.

6.2 Maintenance will be paid in the interim until the paternity of the child is established.

In some circumstances, the court might take a long time to decide whether or not a kid is paternal. As a result, the question of how a child might live in such a setting emerges. Although the court may give interim maintenance to the kid in some situations, many youngsters suffer as a result of paternity proceedings. As a result, the courts must use extra caution in such circumstances to ensure that the goal of the support statute, which is to avoid vagrancy and poverty, is met.

6.3 Hindus have no right to upkeep. Child who no longer identifies as a Hindu

A Hindu kid who converts to another faith loses all of his or her rights to seek support under the Act of 1956. For the sake of the children's welfare and religious freedom, Section 24 of the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956 should be changed.

6.4 Maintenance is granted if both parties agree. In most cases, maintenance is refused when a couple divorces by mutual consent. This, in my opinion, is an unfairness on the side of the offended party since it might be used by the opposing party. In a recent instance, the Rajasthan High Court ruled that a wife cannot sue her husband for support and legal fees. Such decisions place the woman in a defenceless position and do her a big disservice.

6.5 Provision for the bereaved daughter-in-upkeep21. A widowed daughter-in-law is entitled to support from her father-in-law, but there is no provision in the act of 1956 or the Cr.P.C. that allows a daughter-in-law to seek maintenance from her husband if he is alive but absent, absconding, or has left her. She can divorce in this case, but she will be unable to get a support judgement against her in-laws.

Second, even if she has adequate resources to support herself and her father-in-law is deceased, a widowed daughter-in-law is not entitled to maintenance from her mother-in-law.

6.6 Under the current maintenance rules, a woman in a live-in relationship is not entitled to maintenance. Because she is not a legally married wife, a woman in a live-in relationship is entitled to maintenance under the Domestic Violence Act of 2005, but not under Hindu law or Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. In a recent instance, the Court concluded that because the appellant is not the lawfully wedded wife, she can claim maintenance under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005, but not under section 125 of the Cr.P.C. In my opinion, the live-in partner should be entitled to maintenance under Hindu law as well, as the notion of live-in relationships has been recognised as valid.

Has The Report Been Adopted By The Parliament

For a long time, the Supreme Court and several High Courts of the nation have imposed an inevitable legal responsibility on the husband to pay support to his wife. Because the husband is accountable, the wife has an absolute right to maintenance, which the husband cannot evade at any cost. Even if the woman divorces her husband because of his behaviour, he is still obligated to support her. All jurists, as well as the Hon'ble judges and other legal luminaries, agree with this viewpoint. The 252nd Law Commission Report22 is well supported by the aforesaid reasoning, and the researcher totally agrees with it. The court has the authority to determine a woman to be chaste or not by her conduct and not if the husband pleads falsely.

The word chastity must be eliminated since a woman's chastity cannot be tested. Lord Rama put his wife Sita's chastity to the test when the people began to speculate that she had spent so many days with Ravan that she had become unclean. There are no tests that can determine whether or not a lady is chaste. Only the lady herself can establish this. As a result, in the twenty-first century, I believe the word unchaste should be dropped.

The court considers the following factors while determining the amount of maintenance: a. The claimant's income and other assets.

a. The non-earnings claimant's and other property.

b. The manner of conduct

c. The income and other property of non claimant

d. Any particular circumstance

Through different programmes and legislation, the government attempts to empower married women. The Constitutionally mandated notion of equality, however, remains a mere paper blessing, far removed from the touch of reality, due to insufficient execution. So much so that under the Hindu Adoptions and Support Act of 195623, a Hindu woman is not entitled to maintenance from her husband's family. The State has institutionalised patriarchal norms and ideals, resulting in this dichotomy. This results in the construction of a negative image of women, which has long been a painful reality in Indian society. The major goal is to defend a Hindu married woman's claim to maintenance under the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956, if her husband is unable to afford it.

Proposed Amendment To The Hindu Adoption And Maintenance Act,1956

 In light of the above mentioned assessments, the Commission believes it is vital to defend the right of a Hindu woman whose husband is unable to provide for her and, as a result, proposes the introduction of sub-section 4 under Section 18 as follows:

"Section 18 (4) - Where the husband is unable to provide for his wife due to physical disability, mental illness, disappearance, renunciation of the world by entering any religious order, or other similar reasons, the Hindu wife is entitled to maintenance from members of the husband's joint Hindu family during her lifetime, except where the husband has received his share in the property.This notion is reflected in a significant judicial ruling as well. The husband, an undivided member of a Hindu joint family, had forsaken his wife in Ramabai, wife of Bhikaji Bhaskar v Trimbak Ganesh Desai.

_________________________________________________

20 http://www.mondaq.com

21 https://lawcommissionofindia.nic.in

22 http://www.rsisinternational.org

The lady sought-after support from the husband's relatives for herself and her kid.This decision Masilamani Mudliar vs. idol of sri swaminathswami thirukoli, in was reinforced in  which the Supreme Court determined that personal laws are null and invalid to the degree that they violate the Fundamental Rights.

A seven-member committee led by Law Commission of India Chairperson Justice A.P. Shah proposed that a section be added to the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956, to financially protect a Hindu woman whose husband has a physical or mental impairment and has no means of support. The same is true for wives of individuals who have vanished or elected to "renounce the world by entering any religious group or for other reasons." The only exception is if the spouse has already received his portion of the family property as part of the divorce settlement.

Suggestions And Recommendation

In light of the preceding debate, which stripped the subject naked by diving deep into all of its complexities, the Researcher lends her unequivocal support to the Law Commission of India's proposals, which will provide a sigh of relief to a significant number of dissatisfied daughter-in-laws. Maintenance can be requested under any personal law that applies to persons of many faiths/religions, and such personal law actions are civil in nature. The procedures launched under Section 125 of the Criminal Procedure Code are distinct from those initiated under personal laws, and they apply to everyone, regardless of caste, creed, or religion. The clause in question was designed to deter crime by requiring those who can help people who are unable to help themselves and have a moral right to help to do so. Maintenance can be claimed at any time during the course of the case or at the conclusion.

So, based on all of the above mentioned facts, legislation, and decisions issued by various Supreme Court and High Court benches, as well as all other subordinate courts (Family Court), we may conclude that the Indian judiciary is working hard to ensure better maintenance for everyone. The judiciary has made several modifications for the improvement of the maintenance of wives who live with their husbands, divorced wives, and their children. Similarly, in 2017, the Supreme Court

__________________________________________________

23 https://www.legalindia.com

ruled that divorced women had the right to seek maintenance from their husbands for up to 25% of their income.Prior to that, in 2015, an amendment was enacted to provide that a Hindu woman has the right to seek maintenance over her lifetime from members of the husband's joint Hindu family in the event of his departure or infirmity (physical disability, mental disorder, disappearance or renunciation of the world by entering any religious order). Last but not least, the judiciary puts the Quantum of Maintenance into effect. So, according to the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, maintenance is not only for spouses, but for everyone.

Explanation: The word "mental condition" shall have the same meaning as it does in the Explanation to Section 13(1) (iii) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 for the purposes of this.

Conclusion

Maintenance is a criterion for determining social fairness. It is a man's fundamental obligation to support his wife, elderly parents, children, and close relatives as long as they are unable to support themselves. The recent judicial rulings show that the courts have become increasingly permissive in handling matters involving maintenance. The purpose of Section 125 of the Cr.P.C. is to preserve an individual's basic human right in an indirect manner. Maintenance is available to an illegitimate kid, but not to an illegitimate wife. As a result, it is unpleasant for women who marry without knowing about their husband's prior marriage's sustenance. Many such flaws in the current maintenance legislation have been explored, and they must be addressed.

In the sad event that the daughter-in- law is unable to support her, different High Courts and Supreme Court judgements from time to time impose an inevitable legal responsibility on the father-in-law to support his daughter-in-law. This line of reasoning is protected by a slew of legal luminaries. The amendment projected by the Law Commission of Asian nation in its 252nd report titled Right of the Hindu wife and Maintenance Act:A relook at section 18 Adoption and maintenance act 1956,  to make father-in-law obligated to pay maintenance to his daughter-in-law whose husband is unable to provide maintenance to her under the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956 lend full support to the amendments proposed by The Law Commission of India in its the suggested Amendment is completely acceptable to the researcher.