Maintenance Under Section 125 of Cr.P.C.

Section 125 of Cr.P.C. has provided the procedure by which a person who has unable to maintain himself can claim maintenance to another if that another fails to discharge his duty to maintain certain of his relations.

Who can claim maintenance under Section 125 Cr.P.C?

1. A wife.
2. A minor child (both legitimate and illegitimate)
3. A child who has unable to maintain himself due to physical or mental abnormality or injury.
4. Parents.

Important points

1) The application for claiming the maintenance shall be presented before the Judicial Magistrate of First class.
2) A monthly allowance is paid as maintenance.
3) An Interim maintenance and expenses of the proceeding can be claimed during the pendency of the proceeding which should be disposed of within 60 days from the date of service of notice of the application.
4) A wife includes a divorced wife who has not remarried.
5) A married minor daughter can claim maintenance to her father if his husband is unable to maintain her.
6) A daughter who is not married can claim maintenance to his father whether minor or not if she has no means to maintain herself. (Noor Saba Khatoon v. Mohd. Quasim, AIR 1997 SC 3280. )
7) The parents can claim maintenance from their daughter if she has sufficient means, but only from the income of their daughter. But they can’t claim maintenance from her husband’s income (Vijaya Manohar Arbat v. Kashirao Rajaram Sawai, (1987) 2 SCC 278).
8) Stepparents can also claim maintenance from their step child.
9) A Muslim woman can also claim maintenance under Section 125 of Cr.P.C. irrespective of enforcement of The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce Act, 1986).
10) A husband can refuse to maintain his wife if -
a) She is living in adultery.
b) She refuses to live with her husband without any reasonable cause.
c) She is living separately by mutual consent.
11) The Judicial Magistrate can enforce the order of maintenance by committing the person for one-month imprisonment if he fails to pay the monthly allowance after executing the warrant for every failure.

Cases:

1. Mohd. Ahmad Khan v. Shah Bano Begum (1985) 2 SCC 556.
2. Daneil Latifi v. Union of India (2001) 7 SCC 740.
3. Khatoon Nisha v. State of U.P (2014) SCC 646.
4. Shamima Farooqui v. Shahid Khan JLT (2015) SCJ 109.

Do’s

1. The application shall be filed within the jurisdiction of the Judicial Magistrate of the First class where the person (the respondent) is residing.
2. Specify that the petitioner has no means to maintain himself.
3. The petitioner has to prove that the respondent has neglected or refused to maintain him.
4. All the income and resources of the respondent should be mentioned so that the proper allowance can be fixed.
5. If the custody of children are with mother .it must be mentioned also so that the provision for their maintenance can also be made.
6. The allowance is fixed according to the living standard of the parties.