CODE OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE PROCEEDINGS FOR MAINTENANCE OF WIFE, CHILDREN, AND PARENTS

 Most Respectfully Submitted to:

Dr. Tavleen kaur

Submitted iBy:

Aakash iGupta(19LLB001)

CODE OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE PROCEEDINGS FOR MAINTENANCE OF WIFE, CHILDREN, AND PARENTS

Introduction

The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, doesn't say what the word "Maintenance" means. In Chapter IX of the Code of Criminal Procedure, there are rules about how wives, children, and parents can be taken care of. In a general sense, maintenance means keeping something in good shape. In a legal sense, maintenance is money (alimony) that someone must pay regularly to a former wife, husband, or partner, especially if they had children together. It is the duty of every person to take care of his wife, children, and elderly parents who can't take care of themselves.

Aims and goals of Proceedings

• The following are the scope and goals of proceedings for the support of wives, children, and parents.

• The purpose of Chapter IX of the Criminal Code is not to punish someone who doesn't take care of the people he is supposed to take care of.

• The main goal is to keep people from being homeless by making sure that people in pain can get help quickly.

• It doesn't tell the difference between people of different religions or castes.

• It has nothing to do with the laws of the people involved.

Order for wives, children, and parents to be taken care of

Section 125 of the Criminal Procedure Code is called "Order of maintenance of wives, children, and parents." In this section, it says who is eligible for maintenance, what you need to claim and get maintenance, and what the first-class magistrate's order is.

In the case of Mohd. Ahmed Khan v. Shah Bano Begum, the Supreme Court ruled in favour of giving maintenance to a hurt Muslim woman who had been divorced.

Who can file a claim and get support?

"Order for maintenance of wives, children, and parents" is what Section 125 of the Cr.PC is about. Section 125(1) says that the following people can ask for and get maintenance:

From his husband to his wife,

• Whether a child is legitimate or not from his father.

• Any minor child, whether he or she is legitimate or not, who has a physical or mental

• From his son or daughter's father or mother

Wife

In the case of Chanmuniya v. Virendra Singh, the Supreme Court defined "wife," and it includes situations where a man and a woman have lived together as husband and wife for a long time. Section 125 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) should not require strict proof of marriage before a person can get maintenance.

When these things happen, a wife can ask for and get support from her husband:

• Her husband broke up with her, or

• Her husband gave her a divorce, and

• She hasn't married anyone else, and

• She can't take care of herself.

Note: Under Cr.PC, a Muslim wife can also ask for support, even though they have their own law (Muslim Women Protection of Rights on Marriage Act) for this.

In the following situations, a wife can't ask her husband for money and get it:

• Wife who lives with another man, or

• refuses to live with her husband for no reason, or

• Living apart with each other's agreement

• Legitimate or illegitimate minor child

Son

"Minor" refers to a person who, according to Section 3 of the Indian Majority Act of 1875, is not considered to have reached the age of majority, which is 18.

Section 125 of the Criminal Procedure Code says that a minor son, whether he was born legally or not, can get support.

Daughter

If Minor Daughter (Legitimate or Illegitimate) is not married, she is entitled to get maintenance from her father. If she is married, she is also entitled to get maintenance from her father, but the magistrate has to be sure that her husband is not essential. A minor daughter who turned 18 while the application for maintenance was being processed was found to be entitled to maintenance until the date she turned 18.

Normal child of either legal or illegal parent who has reached adulthood

If a major child, whether he or she is legitimate or not, is mentally or physically unfit, the child's father has to take care of him and can ask for support on this basis.

Who is the parent?

Both the mother and father of a child can get child support.

Mother includes an adoptive mother, and she can get money from an adoptive son who is her son.

The law says that the father has to pay child support, and he can't get out of it by saying that he didn't do what he was supposed to do as a parent.

A stepmother without children can claim main

In the case of Pandurang Bhaurao Dabhade vs. Baburao Bhaurao Dabhade, the Bombay High Court said that the father or mother can claim maintenance under Section 125(1)(d) if he or she is unable to support himself or herself. It is also important that if parents claim maintenance to their children, the children must have enough money to support their parents but refuse to do so.

Conditions that must be met to get support

There are some important requirements that must be met in order to get or give maintenance:

1. Sufficient means for maintenance are availabler

2. Failing to maintain or refusing to do so after being asked to do so.

3. The person who wants help must not be able to take care of themselves.

4. The amount of maintenance depends on how well people live.

5. Enough money to keep the person alive.

If a person has enough money to support his wife, children, and parents, it is his duty to do so. If a person doesn't have enough money to support his wife, children, and parents, that is a perfect and valid defence for people who are legally obligated to do so.

Failure to maintain or refusal to do so

Anyone who doesn't take care of his wife, kids, or parents, or who ignores or refuses to do so, does so with bad intentions or in an egotistical way.

The person who wants support must not be able to take care of himself or herself.

A very important requirement for getting maintenance is that the person asking for it can't take care of themselves. For example, if a wife is earning well, she can't ask for maintenance under this section. In the case of Abdulmunaf v. Salima, it was decided that a wife who is healthy and educated enough to work but refuses to do so and instead asks her husband for money will be able to get maintenance.

Provision for taking care of a girl who got married when she was underage.

In the case of Alok Banerjee v. Atoshi Banerjee, a person who is unable to support themselves.

Quantum of maintenance

Quantum of maintenance means the amount of maintenance. Quantum of maintenance depends on the standard of living. For example, if a problem comes up in a rich family, the demand for maintenance will be higher than in a poor family, based on how they lived in their last life.

In simple terms, the Court should check to see if the amount of support given is fair given the situation of the family.

Magistrates have the power to deal with maintenance cases.

Section 125(1)(d) says that if a person does not take care of his wife, children, or parents, or if he refuses to do so, a Magistrate of the First Class can order that person to make a monthly allowance for the care of his wife, children, or parents, at a rate that the Magistrate thinks is fair, and to pay it to the person the magistrate tells them to.

If a minor female child is unmarried, the magistrate can order to make such an allowance until she turns 18. If a minor female child is married and the magistrate is sure that her husband doesn't have enough money, the magistrate can order the father of the minor female child to make such an allowance for maintenance. This can happen when a case is going on about a monthly allowance for maintenance.

Section 125(2) says that if a court orders an allowance for maintenance or interim maintenance and costs of the proceeding, it should be paid from the date of the order or, if it is ordered, from the date of the application for maintenance and costs of the proceeding.

Section 125(3) says that if a person doesn't follow an order without a good reason, the Magistrate can issue a warrant for levying the amount with fines. If the person still doesn't follow the order after the warrant is carried out, they can be sent to jail for up to a month or until the money is paid, whichever comes first.

How to take care of things

"Procedure for maintenance" is the subject of Section 126 of the Criminal Procedure Code. This section says the following:

You can start a case under Section 125 in the following district.

1. What he is doing, or

2. Where he lives or where his wife lives,

3. The last place he lived with his wife or the mother of a child he didn't have.

There must be proof in front of the person who will be ordered to pay child support.

If a person tries to avoid a summons on purpose, then ex-parte evidence is taken.

Changes to the allowance

Alteration in allowance means an order to increase, decrease, or remove/cancel the allowance that was ordered by the Magistrate under Section 125. Section 127(1) says that if the circumstances of the parties have changed, the magistrate can also order to change the allowance.

The husband had a stable job and enough money to take care of his wife, so the court told him to do that and give her an allowance under Section 125. But now, the husband doesn't have a job or money to take care of his wife, so the court can change the allowance and lower the amount.

If a wife didn't have a job or couldn't support herself and got an allowance order under Section 125, but after a few months she has a job and can support herself, the Court can order to take away or cancel the allowance.

According to Section 127(2), a Magistrate must cancel or revoke any order he made under Section 125 if it looks like it should be cancelled because of a decision made by a competent Civil Court. For example, if a Magistrate ordered a husband to pay alimony to his wife after a divorce, but the Civil Court said the couple should live together, the Magistrate must revoke his Section 125 order.

Section 127(3) says that if an order was made in favour of women under Section 125, the magistrate can cancel the order if any of the following are true:

• If a woman gets married again after being divorced.

• If a woman has gotten money from a personal law after getting divorced.

• If a woman leaves on her own, she has the right to be taken care of.

Section 127(4) says that the Civil Court must take into account the amount paid to the person as a monthly allowance for maintenance and interim maintenance under Section 125 when making a decree for the recovery of day maintenance or dowry.

Enforcement of the order to pay child support

"Enforcement of order of maintenance" is the topic of Section 128. According to this section, the following things must happen for the order of maintenance to be enforced:

Under Section 125, a free copy of the order is given to the person it was made for. If the order was made for a child, a copy of the order is given to the child's guardian.

If a Magistrate has made an order under Section 125, that order can be enforced wherever the person who has to pay maintenance lives by any other Magistrate in India.

Before the order is put into place, the Magistrate has to meet two conditions:

1. Who the parties are, and

2. Proof that allowances were not paid.