The personal laws of people of different religions allow for the filing of maintenance claims, and these personal laws involve legal actions. On the other hand, Section 125 trials are criminal processes that are open to everyone regardless of caste, creed, or religion and, in contrast to personal laws, are brief. However, the purpose of such proceedings is not to penalize a person for their previous lack of interest.
The aforementioned paragraph was added to deter vagrancy by forcing those who can assist individuals who are unable to maintain themselves and have a moral obligation to do so. Maintenance claims can be made throughout the case’s transitional phase, or while it’s still ongoing, or during its final phase, or after it’s resolved.
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Legal provision
Legal requirements about maintenance orders for spouses and children under the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, section 125. The goal of maintenance procedures is to force those who can afford it to assist individuals who are unable to maintain themselves and who have a moral claim to support, not to punish an individual for past neglect but to prevent vagrancy from leading to crime and famine. The maintenance regulations of the Code of Criminal Procedure are independent of the parties’ laws and apply to individuals of all religious backgrounds.
Those eligible to claim maintenance
By Section 125(1) of the Code, the following individuals may request maintenance in specific situations:
Wife By Section 125(l)(a) of the Code, a person with sufficient means who neglects or refuses to provide for his wife if she is unable to provide for herself may, upon proof of said neglect or refusal, be ordered by a Magistrate of the first class to make a monthly allowance for his wife’s maintenance at a rate the Magistrate deems appropriate and to pay said amount to a person the Magistrate may from time to time direct. “Wife” in this context refers to a woman who was divorced, either by her husband or by a different divorce lawyer and has not remarried.
Child Under Section 125(1)(b) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, a person with sufficient means may, upon proof of such neglect or refusal, order that person to make a monthly allowance for the maintenance of any legitimate or illegitimate minor child, married or not, unable to maintain itself, or, under Section 125(1)(c) of the Code, his legitimate or illegitimate child (not being a married daughter) who has attained majority and is unable to maintain itself due to any physical or mental abnormality or injury, and to give the same amount to anybody the magistrate may occasionally order. However, the magistrate may order the father of a minor female child to have the necessary resources if the magistrate is confident that the spouse of the child—who is mentioned in Section 125(1)(b)—to provide such an allowance, up until the child reaches majority. In this context, “minor” refers to an individual who is considered to have not reached majority status by the Indian Majority Act of 1875.
Parents By Section 125(l)(d) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, a person of sufficient means who neglects or refuses to provide for his parents when they are unable to provide for themselves may, upon proof of said neglect or refusal, be ordered by a Magistrate of the first class to make a monthly allowance for the maintenance of his parents at a rate the Magistrate deems appropriate and to pay the same to any person the Magistrate may from time to time direct. It is traditional for children in India, even daughters, to support their parents. Whether or whether the daughter is married, she will still have to provide for her parents.
Temporary maintenance
By the second proviso of Section 125(1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the person in question shall, during the pendency of the proceeding concerning the monthly allowance for maintenance under Section 125(1) of the Code, make a monthly allowance for the interim maintenance of his wife or child, father or mother, and the reasonable costs of the proceeding, and pay the same to any person the Magistrate may from time to time direct. Moreover, an application for the monthly allowance for interim maintenance and costs associated with proceeding under the second proviso must, to the greatest extent feasible, be resolved within sixty days of the day the application was served on the relevant individual.
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