Maintenance constitutes a sum of money that the husband is obligated to pay his wife on a monthly or annual basis upon either separation or divorce, or during the subsistence of their marriage. It is a type of financial support that a man gives to his wife. The objective of maintenance is to put back the wife in the same position and lifestyle as she was in during the existence of their marriage. It is a liability and becomes a moral obligation of the husband to provide such maintenance because of the matrimonial bond they shared. Women in society have faced many sacrifices, hardships, and discrimination in their lives, in the present times also they have not been treated with dignity and are discriminated against in society. Marriage is a holy union of two people where both the husband and the wife give into a lifelong commitment, for a physical emotional, and mental union. Maintenance is an amount whose objective is to ensure that the spouse who is affected the most financially is not left high and dry after the marriage in a state of vagrancy and no source of income to support herself just because their marriage failed and which does not mean that the spouse has to face such adversities, in maximum cases, it is the wife who is in this situation such conditions can apply to the children and parents of a man also. It was also iterated in the case of Vimal vs. Sukumar Anna Patil and Ors [1] that a man is compelled to perform the moral obligation which he owes to society in respect of his wife and children. By providing a simple speedy but limited relief, they seek to ensure that the neglected wife and children are not left beggared and destitute on the scrap-head of society and thereby driven to a life of vagrancy, immorality, and crime for their subsistence. It is a measure of social justice and an outcome of the natural duty of a man to maintain his wife, children, and parents when they are unable to maintain themselves. Under certain circumstances, the wife can claim maintenance from her husband and, where it becomes the moral obligation to provide such maintenance which the society expects and in the view of the society the man becomes liable for such maintenance. Various laws in Indian recognize the right to maintenance under various acts, a Hindu female can claim maintenance under Hindu Personal Laws and under-provision of Criminal Code of Civil Procedure. Hindu marriage has been considered as a sacrosanct and not a civil contract by the traditional texts and wherein the marriage is an eternal, permanent and insoluble union which is an unbreakable bond, but in today’s time this concept has been broken by the introduction of divorce under the personal laws, is now available for either of the parties for permanent dissolution of marriage. Such provisions have allowed for a wife to claim for maintenance from her husband after the marriage is dissolved for her sustenance and it becomes his duty to provide her with such amount. This article will throw more light on the provisions of maintenance to wife in the Hindu law along with how it is a social and moral obligation of men to provide maintenance to women. Maintenance in Indian Law 1. Maintenance Under Section 125 CrPC The concept of maintenance under Indian Law is divided among various acts and personal laws of different religions. The object of maintenance is to prevent immorality and destitution and ameliorate the economic condition of women and children.[2] Under Section 125 CrPC maintenance can be provided to the wives, children (illegitimate and legitimate both), parents mother or dependent father not able to maintain themselves, then the magistrate can order such person to provide with the maintenance of some amount to wife, child, and parents as monthly allowances. The maintenance provided under this section is not restricted to any religion and is secular, anyone practicing and preaching any religion can claim maintenance under this section also the proceedings under CrPC is criminal rather than being civil like the personal laws. Also as seen in the case of Chaturbhuj v. Sita Bai [3] the object of such proceedings is not to punish a person for his past neglect but is enacted to prevent vagrancy by compelling those who can provide support to those who are unable to support themselves and have a moral claim to support. The burden of proof here is on the wife to prove that she has been neglected by her husband who has sufficient means and is unable to maintain herself on her living. Under this provision, the aggrieved can claim for interim maintenance also under this section while the proceedings are going on in the court. The preview of Section 125 is very wide and is meant for social justice not barred by any factor such as caste, creed, religion, etc to provide justice to all. Nature and Scope of Right to Maintenance Under Hindu Law Hindu ancient texts have represented a marriage as a sacrament under which the union between the couple who gets married is indissoluble, eternal, and a holy bond in the eyes of the society. A marriage is considered to be a foundation of a family in society and is performed for the sustenance of a family in peace. It is seen to be one of the most important unions for the performance of religious duties under Hindu mythology. Hindu marriage is considered to be a sanskara and sacrament more than a civil contract. The current modern texts have defeated the features of a marriage of ancient texts, by the introduction of certain laws and provisions which directly gives the status of marriage as a civil contract between the two parties and laws to protect the rights of a woman to claim maintenance and alimony, restitution of conjugal rights protection from cruelty, adultery, etc. Our society has always been a male-dominated society that does not look into the hardships the woman goes through under a marriage like violence, domestic abuse, etc., and is kept suppressed. The patriarchy has such an effect on society that women are treated to be the ones who will look after the households and are suppressed to express their minds and views by the male-dominated society. After a lot of suffering and abuse faced by the women in marriage and society, there have been laws enacted to deal with these issues, following are the Acts enacted for a person to claim maintenance who is a Hindu by religion – ? The Hindu Marriage Act (HMA), 1955, ? The Hindu Succession Act (HAS), 1956, ? The Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act (HAMA), 1956 Maintenance of Wife The Hindu Marriage Act,1955 and The Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956 take about special provisions for the rights of wives to be maintained by her husband. It is the absolute right of the wife to be maintained by her husband, which is his obligation by the very existence of marriage and cannot deny such obligation. Right to maintenance of a wife comes with the concept of an undivided family in a Hindu family for a man to maintain his wife children and parents who cannot maintain themselves. Section 3(b) of HAMA, 1956 defines what maintenance is and a man is expected to provide food, shelter, clothing, medical assistance, etc., necessities to his family members. It was stated by the court in the case of State of Haryana v. Smt. Santra [4] stated that maintenance is a type of liability, and which is created by the Hindu law which arises out of the jural relation of the parties. Section 18 of The Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act 1956 talks about the maintenance of wife in marriage by her husband, clause 1 of the section talks about maintenance of wife living with her husband, 18(2) talks about wife living separately from her husband and still have rights to be maintained by her husband under certain circumstances like if she has been deserted by him, the husband has caused apprehension of grave harm to her or cruelty that her life is in danger and she cannot stay with him anymore, he is having a second wife living or an extramarital affair or commits bigamy, keeping a concubine or a mistress in the same house as her or habituates which concubine in another place, having a harmful form of leprosy, converted to some other religion and ceased to be Hindu or any valid reason as to live separate. A wife under this section disqualifies for the right to be maintained by having a house and living arrangements, if she is unchaste or has converted herself into some other religion from Hinduism, then the husband is not liable to pay any maintenance. Types of Maintenance The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 lays down the types of maintenance that can be granted, as mentioned under Section 24 and Section 25 of the act which is maintenance pendente lite or interim maintenance and alimony or permanent maintenance, respectively. Under this act, the alimony or maintenance can be claimed by either of the parties in a suit be it husband or wife. Under Section 24 interim maintenance includes maintenance that is given for personal maintenance of the claimant and the court proceedings expenses. This type of maintenance is mainly claimed for immediate expenses for the court proceedings or the personal needs of either party. As iterated in the case of Rameshwar Nath Vs. Kanta Devi [5] this type of maintenance can be claimed by anyone to the suit, both respondent or appellant can file for this maintenance, the court here iterated said that awarding maintenance does not depend upon whether it is accepted or rejected. This infers that, if the main maintenance appeal is rejected by the court and the application filled for interim maintenance is still pending in court then, such court has the jurisdiction to pass interim maintenance. This provision is specially made for the spouses who do not have enough money to maintain themselves during the pending court proceedings. For claiming maintenance as stated in the case of Manokaran v. Devaki [6] wife can anytime seek maintenance during the proceedings who does not have sufficient means of income for the same and needs to prove it in front of the court, whereas the husband does the same for claiming maintenance.