Hyderabad: Holding that Section 125 CrPC does not make a woman liable to maintain either her widowed daughter-in-law or the children of her deceased son, the Telangana High Court has quashed proceedings against a mother-in-law.
According to LiveLaw, Justice N. Tukaramji said, “Section 125(1) CrPC specifies the classes of persons entitled to claim maintenance and the corresponding persons liable to maintain them, namely, a wife against her husband, minor children against their father, and a father or mother against a person liable to maintain them. The provision does not create any statutory liability upon a mother-in-law to maintain her widowed daughter-in-law or the children of her deceased son.”
A woman filed the maintenance case after her husband’s death in February 2022. She claimed that her parents-in-law had driven her, along with her two minor daughters, out of the home while keeping all bank accounts, insurance benefits, jewellery, and other assets. With no independent income, she sought monthly maintenance and additional expenses.
The father-in-law died in the meantime, leaving it to the mother-in-law, Peravali (Janapatla) Surya Kumari, to face the claim. Kumari then approached the High Court to quash the case against her.
Appearing for her, T.L. Nayan Kumar argued that Section 125 imposed no maintenance obligation on her. Additional Public Prosecutor Syed Yasar Mamoon opposed the petition, pointing to the daughter-in-law’s lack of income, the children’s needs, and allegations that the mother-in-law had property from the deceased’s estate.
What the court said
Section 125 specifies who can claim maintenance as well as who is liable to pay it, the court said. “It does not place a mother-in-law under an obligation to maintain a widowed daughter-in-law or grandchildren. A person’s sufficient means become relevant only after a statutory obligation to maintain is established,” the LiveLaw report said.
It said the court observed that while Section 19 of the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956, provides a conditional remedy for a widowed daughter-in-law against her father-in-law, it “imposes no equivalent liability on her mother-in-law”.
The court quashed the maintenance proceedings and added that the woman could pursue her allegations about property or assets through other remedies available in law.
Follow on Twitter | Edited by Smriti Sinha | 
