Maintenance in India is available under multiple routes -- BNSS Section 144 (which replaced Section 125 of the old Code of Criminal Procedure), the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956 for Hindus, and, per a July 2024 Supreme Court ruling, BNSS Section 144 is also available to divorced Muslim women as an additional remedy alongside the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986.
BNSS Section 144 -- the general maintenance remedy
Section 144 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS) replaced Section 125 of the Code of
Criminal Procedure, 1973, effective 1 July 2024, and provides for maintenance of wives, children, and parents
who are unable to maintain themselves, payable by a person with sufficient means who neglects or refuses to
maintain them. This remedy is available regardless of the parties’ religion, and operates as a quick,
summary proceeding rather than a full civil suit.
Personal-law maintenance rights run alongside BNSS Section 144
The Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956 provides a separate civil-law maintenance right specifically
for Hindu wives, children, and aged or infirm parents, which a Hindu wife can pursue in addition to, not
instead of, the BNSS Section 144 remedy. For Muslim women, the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce)
Act, 1986 sets out maintenance obligations on divorce.
Mohd. Abdul Samad v. State of Telangana (2024) -- clarifying Muslim women’s maintenance rights
On 10 July 2024, the Supreme Court held that the general maintenance remedy under Section 125 CrPC (now
BNSS Section 144) applies to divorced Muslim women too, rejecting the argument that the 1986 Act impliedly
excludes the secular remedy. The Court confirmed the 1986 Act provides an additional, not exclusive, remedy --
meaning a divorced Muslim woman can choose to seek maintenance under either the 1986 Act or BNSS Section 144,
reaffirming and extending the reasoning of the earlier 1985 Shah Bano case within the current statutory
framework. For NRI husbands specifically, a BNSS Section 144 maintenance application can be filed and pursued
in India even where the husband resides abroad, and Indian courts have in appropriate cases used mechanisms
including lookout circulars and attachment of India-based assets to enforce maintenance orders against
NRI respondents who attempt to evade payment by remaining outside the court's immediate reach.
Can a divorced Muslim woman claim maintenance under the general law, or only under the 1986 Act?
She can choose either -- the Supreme Court held in Mohd. Abdul Samad v. State of Telangana (2024) that the
Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986 provides an additional remedy, not an exclusive one,
so a divorced Muslim woman can seek maintenance under BNSS Section 144 (the general provision) as well as, or
instead of, the 1986 Act.
What replaced Section 125 of the CrPC for maintenance claims?
Section 144 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, effective 1 July 2024, which substantively
carries forward the maintenance framework of the old Section 125 CrPC while being part of the broader
IPC/CrPC/Evidence-Act-to-BNS/BNSS/BSA transition.
Can a Hindu wife pursue maintenance under both the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act and BNSS Section 144?
Yes -- these are separate remedies that operate alongside each other rather than as alternatives that
exclude one another, and a Hindu wife is not required to choose only one route.
