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Journalism of Courage
This is an archive article published on April 19, 2023
Parents-in-law not entitled to maintenance from widowed daughter-in-law under Section 125 of CrPC: Bombay HC
The bench was hearing a plea by a 38-year-old widowed woman, whose parents-in-law had sought maintenance from her saying that they were old with no source of income.
Advocate J M Murkute for the woman contended that her job was not given to her on compassionate grounds and, therefore, she is not legally bound to pay maintenance to her parents-in-law. (File)
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Parents-in-law not entitled to maintenance from widowed daughter-in-law under Section 125 of CrPC: Bombay HC
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The Aurangabad Bench of the Bombay High Court recently held that older parents-in-law were not entitled to maintenance from their widowed daughter-in-law under Section 125 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC).
Section 125 of CrPC empowers courts to order individuals to give maintenance to wives, children and parents, in the event the individual has been neglecting or refusing to pay.
A single-judge bench of Justice Kishor C Sant observed that Section 125 of the CrPC did not specifically contain ‘father in law’ and/or ‘mother in law’ “for the purpose of maintaining” and therefore allowed a plea by the daughter-in-law.
The bench was hearing a plea by a 38-year-old widowed woman, whose husband, a bus conductor with the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) had died. After his death, the woman got a job in the health department of a civic-run hospital in Mumbai for sustenance.
The parents-in-law, in their plea before Nyayadhikari Gram Nyayalaya (NGN) from Latur district, claimed that they were old with no source of income. They also claimed that after their son’s death, there was no one to look after them.
However, the woman had opposed their claim, stating the couple had four married daughters. She argued that since the daughters were entitled to a share in the parents’ property, they were also liable to pay maintenance to the parents. She further added that after her husband’s death, the parents-in-law received Rs 1.88 lakh from MSRTC and they also had their own land and house. The woman claimed the parents-in-law did not disclose the said information before the judicial authority.
The NGN had directed the widow to pay maintenance as the parents-in-law were without a source of income. Aggrieved by the same, she approached the high court, challenging the NGN’s decision.
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Advocate J M Murkute for the woman contended that her job was not given to her on compassionate grounds and, therefore, she is not legally bound to pay maintenance to her parents-in-law.
Justice Sant accepted the woman’s contention and also noted that the old couple had received Rs 1.88 lakh from MSRTC after their son’s death.
“The fact that the couple has land and their own house is also not disputed. So, even on facts, this court finds that no case is made out by the petitioner to claim maintenance from the court,” the bench noted.
“Thus, considering this legal position and the facts of the case it is clear that the respondents (parents-in-law) are not entitled to receive maintenance from the petitioner woman on the counts, firstly that they are not coming under the relation mentioned in Section 125 of CrPC. Secondly, the appointment of the petitioner was not on a compassionate ground in place of her husband,” Justice Sant observed.
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Maintaining that the continuance of proceedings pending in the NGN would be “an abuse of process law”, the high court quashed the same.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
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