5. Maintenance of Wife under Hindu Law

This is the fifth post in Family Law-I (Hindu Law), Unit IV — having finished adoption (Chapter II), we now move to Chapter III of the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956 and its first claimant: the wife.

The Problem This Topic Solves

A Hindu wife's right to be supported by her husband does not disappear just because she is not living under his roof. The law had to answer a harder question than "does a wife get maintenance" — it had to spell out exactly when she can live apart from her husband and still keep that right, and the narrow situations where she loses it. Section 18 of the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956 answers both.

What "Maintenance" Means — Section 3(b)

Before looking at who can claim it, it helps to know what the Act actually means by "maintenance." Section 3(b) defines it to include, in every case, provision for food, clothing, residence, education, and medical attendance and treatment. Where the claimant is an unmarried daughter, the definition also extends to the reasonable expenses of, and incidental to, her marriage. This definition applies throughout Chapter III — to the wife's claim in this post, and to children's and parents' claims in the next.

The Wife's Basic Right — Section 18(1)

Section 18(1) states the general rule plainly: a Hindu wife, whether married before or after this Act commenced, is entitled to be maintained by her husband during her lifetime. This is a standing right that exists simply by virtue of the marriage — it does not depend on her living with him.

When She Can Live Separately and Still Claim Maintenance — Section 18(2)

Ordinarily, a wife who leaves the matrimonial home without justification risks her maintenance claim. Section 18(2) lists six specific grounds on which she can live separately from her husband without losing that claim:

(a) Desertion — he has abandoned her without reasonable cause and without her consent or against her wish, or has wilfully neglected her.

(b) Cruelty — he has treated her with cruelty causing a reasonable apprehension in her mind that living with him would be harmful or injurious.

(d) Bigamy — he has any other wife living.

(e) Concubinage — he keeps a concubine in the same house as his wife, or habitually resides with a concubine elsewhere.

(f) Conversion — he has ceased to be a Hindu by converting to another religion.

(g) Any other justifying cause — a residuary ground, leaving room for the court to recognise circumstances not listed above.

The One Bar on Her Claim — Section 18(3)

Section 18(3) sets out the flip side: a Hindu wife is not entitled to separate residence and maintenance if she herself is unchaste, or if she herself ceases to be a Hindu by converting to another religion. Notice the asymmetry — if the husband converts, her right to maintenance survives (ground (f) above); if she converts, her right is barred.

Section 18 — What Preserves Her Claim vs. What Bars It, At a Glance

• Section 18(1) — a Hindu wife's right to be maintained by her husband exists simply because of the marriage, regardless of when it was solemnised.
• Section 18(2) lists six grounds on which she can live separately without losing her maintenance claim — desertion, cruelty, bigamy, concubinage, his conversion, and any other justifying cause. (A seventh ground, leprosy, was omitted by the Personal Laws (Amendment) Act, 2019.)
• Section 18(3) bars her claim only in two situations — if she is unchaste, or if she herself converts to another religion.

• The asymmetry in Section 18 is deliberate and frequently tested: the husband's conversion is a ground that preserves her claim; her own conversion is a ground that bars it.
• Ground (g) — "any other cause justifying her living separately" — is a deliberately open residuary clause, giving courts flexibility to recognise situations the 1956 Parliament could not have listed exhaustively.

How Much Maintenance — Section 23(2)

The Act does not fix a formula for the amount. Section 23(2) instead directs the court to weigh several factors when deciding how much a wife (and, as the next post covers, children or aged parents) should receive: the position and status of the parties; the claimant's reasonable wants; whether, if she is living separately, that separation is justified; the value of her own property and any income from it, her earnings, or any other source; and the number of other persons who are also entitled to maintenance under the Act.

A Practical Example

Suppose a Hindu husband brings a second wife into the household while still married to the first. The first wife moves out and claims maintenance. Under Section 18(2)(d), his bigamy is itself a ground that lets her live separately without losing her claim — she does not need to additionally prove cruelty or desertion. If, instead, it were the wife who had remarried while the first marriage subsisted, Section 18(3) would bar her own maintenance claim outright, regardless of anything the husband had done.

Quick Revision Points

• Section 3(b) — "maintenance" covers food, clothing, residence, education, medical care, and (for an unmarried daughter) reasonable marriage expenses.
• Section 18(1) — a Hindu wife is entitled to maintenance from her husband during her lifetime, regardless of when the marriage was solemnised.
• Section 18(2) — six grounds preserve her right to live separately and still claim: desertion, cruelty, bigamy, concubinage, his conversion, and any other justifying cause. Leprosy was removed as a ground by the Personal Laws (Amendment) Act, 2019.
• Section 18(3) — her claim is barred only if she is unchaste or she herself converts to another religion.
• Section 23(2) — the amount is discretionary, based on the parties' status, the claimant's reasonable wants, justification for living separately, the claimant's own resources, and the number of other maintenance claimants.