The provisions of Maintenance act are intended to fulfill a social purpose. These provision are contained in Criminal procedure code,1973 under section 125 to 128, under the Hindu marriage act 1955, under the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance act,1956. Under the protection of women from Domestic Violence Act 2005,The Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior citizens Act,2007. The object of all these provision is to compel a man to perform the moral obligations, which he owes to the society in respect of his wife, children and parents. By provisions a simple and speedy but limited relief, These provision seek to ensure that the neglected wife and children are not left beggared and destitute on the scrapheap of society and there by driven to a life of vagrancy, immorality and crime for their subsistence. The inability of the wife, child and father or mother to maintain themselves could lead to Social problems and therefore, it became the concern of the state not to allow such inability to grow in to social problems of great magnitude unless the consequences of such inability were checked by providing appropriate measure, large scale vagrancy could be the probable off-shoot there from. Therefore, the parliament in its desire to find a solution to this problem evolved a procedure which has found expression in chapter IX of 3 Criminal Procedure Code.1973.This enactment is fully consistent with ARTICLE 15{3} of the constitution of India which state that the prohibition contained in the constitution of India which states that the prohibition contained in the article shall not prevent the state from making any special provision for women and children. ARTICLE 39 of the constitution also state, inter-alia that the state shall, in particular, direct its policies towards securing that the citizens, men and women equally, have the right to an adequate means of livelihood, that children are given opportunities and facilities to develop in a healthy manner and in conditions of freedom and dignity and that childhood and youth are protected against exploitation and against moral and material abandonment. The right to maintenance is circumscribed by certain factors {e.g.} {a} the relationship of husband is and wife should be proved, {b} she must be unable to maintain herself, {c} the husband must be having sufficient means and {d} it should be proved that the husband has neglected or has refused to maintain wife. Even a wife who has been divorced is entitled to claim maintenance from her husband provided that she has not re-married. Whether such a wife has been divorced by her husband or she has obtained divorced or the marriage was divorced by mutual consent, she would still be entitled to claim maintenance under the maintenance act. However by the enactment of the Muslim women act, 1986 these provisions have been made inapplicable to the Muslim woman and her former husband can choose to be governed by the provision of this chapter of the code. A child up tills the age of eighteen years, legitimate or illegitimate whether married or not, would be entitled to claim maintenance from his or her father. The father of a minor female child can be ordered to pay maintenance to such a child until she attains her majority, if the magistrate is satisfied that the husband of such a minor female child is not possessed of sufficient means. Even a child who has attained the age of majority has been enabled to claim maintenance if by reason of any physical or mental abnormality or injury is unable to maintain itself. Such a child may be legitimate or illegitimate. A son may be married, but a daughter who’s has attained the age of majority but is married is not covered by this act .A father or a mother have been conferred the statutory right to claim maintenance from his or her son or daughter. The provisions of this act are not in the nature of penal provision but are only intended for the enforcement of a duty, default, which may lead to 4 vagrancy. This act is really intended for ensuring some supply of food, clothing& shelter to the deserted wives, neglected children& parents.
The Madhya Pradesh High Court recently ruled that a woman refusing to have physical relations with her husband amounts to "mental cruelty" and is a valid ground for him to seek divorce under the Hindu Marriage Act. The court's order was passed on January 3 in a case between Sudeepto Saha and Moumita Saha.
A division bench of Justices Sheel Nagu and Vinay Saraf set aside the decision of a Bhopal family court in 2014 which had refused to grant divorce to Sudeepto. The high court ruled, "The non-consummation of marriage and denial of physical intimacy amounts to mental cruelty."
Dr. Jinesh Soni
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