Maintenance Of Wife Under Hindu Law

Introduction

The term maintenance has been used in a wide sense, it includes maintenance as a provision for food, clothing, residence, education and medical attendance and treatment according to Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956.

In case of an unmarried daughter, it includes reasonable expenses of her marriage.

In most systems of law, wife has a special position in her husband’s household.  Most systems of law recognise the obligation of husband to maintain his wife so long as marriage subsists and the wife remains faithful.

In most systems, the obligation exists even after the dissolution of marriage. A divorced wife is included in the expression “wife”.

The duty and the obligation of husband to maintain his wife does not arise out of any contract, express or implied, but only out of the status of marriage, out of the wedlock of husband and wife.

READ Maintenance Of Wife Under Muslim Law

The obligation to maintain his wife begins with marriage however the wife should be a legally wedded wife. A woman marrying an already married man whose marriage is subsistence is not entitled to maintenance.

Wife right to maintenance may arise in the following three situations:

  • When the wife lives with her husband
  • When the wife lives separate from her husband, and
  • When the wife live separate under a decree of court( judicial separation) or when the marriage is dissolved.

When wife lives with husband

In all patriarchal societies, it has been considered an imperative duty of the wife to live with her husband and perform all the conjugal rights.

And parallel to this duty of wife the husband’s obligation to maintain his wife begins with marriage. It cannot be a valid ground to refuse maintenance that his financial condition is not good. The obligation of the husband to maintain his wife is a personal obligation.

Even an immature wife lives with her parents, the husband’s obligation to maintain her subsists, except the husband, no other member of the family has any personal obligation to maintain her.

The husband’s obligation comes to an end only when the wife leaves him without any good cause or without his consent.

The modern Hindu law lays down that a Hindu wife is entitled to be maintained by her husband during her lifetime. A wife who ceased to be Hindu cannot claim maintenance under the modern law.

When wife lives apart

A Hindu wife is entitled to maintenance if she lives separate from her husband for a justifiable cause.

Section 18(2) of Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act,1956 lays down the grounds on which wife may live separate and claim maintenance.

These are:-

  • Desertion
  • Cruelty
  • Leprosy
  • Another wife living
  • Keeps a concubine
  • Conversion
  • Any other justifiable cause

A wife entitled to separate residence and maintenance may forfeit her claim in the following three cases:

  • An unchaste wife has no right to claim separate residence and maintenance.
  • A wife who has ceased to be a Hindu by conversion to another religion has lost the right to claim maintenance.
  • Once a view was that the wife who has resumed cohabitation with her husband forfeits her claim for separate residence and maintenance. But in MEENAKSHI v. MUTHU KRISHNA AIR 1961 Mad 280 the court said that just because the wife had sexual intercourse with her husband, while she continued to live separate from her husband ,may not extinguish the decree for separate maintenance.

Conclusion

The husband’s obligation to maintain his wife under the Hindu law is mandatory. He has to take care of all her needs and expenses.

His right to maintain her begins with the marriage.

Summaiya

Content Writer, Law Corner, B.A.LL.B(Hons), 5th Semester, Unity Law and PG college

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