Look at the image here and imagine a wife giving a lot of money to her husband, while they are discussing divorce in the Courts…… Hard to visualize….Right? That’s how the societal setup ended up imposing all kinds of financial responsibilities on men, backed by the laws. But here, we seek to discuss the very famous provision for maintenance under Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, or Section 144 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023. Can husband get maintenance under Section 125 CrPC or Section 144 BNSS? When is the wife not entitled to maintenance and the husband can seek relief of maintenance? Do New Criminal Laws in any possible way find husbands entitled to financial relief from their wives? Let’s find out through the specific provisions.
Can husband get maintenance under Section 125 of CrPC?
The provision for maintenance under Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure has its ancestors under Chapter XXXVI of the Criminal Procedure Code 1898. The Section 488 of CrPC laid the foundation for maintenance for wives and children with the backing of criminal laws. The suggestion for including aged parents for the purpose of maintenance, which was denied in Law Commission’s 41st Report, for indigent parents in the 48th Report. Thus, parents were included in Section 125 of CrPC. However, nowhere under CrPC Section 125 has a husband been covered by any interpretation. The provision only focuses on wives, children and aged persons, entitled to maintenance as a remedy under criminal laws.
Can husband get maintenance under Section 144 of BNSS?
The provision for maintenance under Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita has been adopted from the Code of Criminal Procedure 1973 without any amends. This reflects that since the Section 125 of CrPC did not entitle husbands to get maintenance, BNSS follows the footsteps. There is no provision for maintenance to husband under the New Criminal Laws. In terms of matrimonial cases, we can say that the remedy for maintenance is not gender neutral under the Criminal Laws. Even the Courts in India cannot enforce the husband’s right to maintenance under the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, regardless of whether he is able to meet ends, earning or not, or even if disabled. No husband can get maintenance under Section 144 of BNSS.
Who can get maintenance under Section 125 of CrPC or 144 of BNSS?
The question of “Can husband get maintenance under Section 125 CrPC?” was discussed with Advocate Anam Siddiqui who also explained the said aspect in the same way. As covered under the provision of CrPC Section 125 replicated under Section 144 of BNSS, the following persons are entitled to the remedy of maintenance under Criminal proceedings:
- Wife who is unable to maintain herself;
- Minor child unable to maintain self, regardless of whether legitimate or illegitimate, married or unmarried;
- Major child unable to maintain self due to physical/mental abnormality or injury;
- Father or mother unable to maintain himself/herself.
It may be noted that BNSS Section 144 is not a law favouring women only. In other words, males altogether are not disqualified from getting maintenance under the provision. There are specific male relatives who are also entitled to maintenance as per New Criminal Laws, as discussed below.
Males who can get maintenance under Section 144 of BNSS
Since men are not altogether banned from getting maintenance as per Section 125 CrPC or BNSS Section 144, given below is the list of male relatives entitled to maintenance:
- Minor son, regardless of whether legitimate or illegitimate, provided that he is unable to maintain himself;
- Son who has attained the age of majority, but is unable to maintain himself due to some physical or mental disability or injury;
- Father who is unable to maintain himself.
Maintenance to husband under BNSS – Inference
What can be concluded after the aforementioned discussion is that the provision of maintenance under CrPC 125 and BNSS Section 144 is that the provision is specific to certain relations. While men are not altogether excluded from seeking maintenance under the provision, a husband cannot get maintenance from his wife. In case of matrimonial disputes, while the provision seeks to grant financial protection for a destitute woman, it is seen that wives use Section 125 CrPC/ Section 144 BNSS as a means to monetarily harass their husbands, when cases are fraudulent.
While there could be denial of maintenance to educated wife or in other circumstances, it is totally the discretion of Courts and ability of parties to convince the Court in their favour. A husband may evade paying maintenance to wife with favourable facts, arguments and case laws, but the answer to “Can a husband get maintenance under Section 125 CrPC or 144 of BNSS?”, the answer remains negative unless the Legislature considers and makes the husband entitled to maintenance by wife. It was important to discuss this aspect in detail because the writer came across a blog addressing how a husband was entitled and could seek maintenance from his wife under Section 125 of CrPC, which is legally incorrect and impossible.
