Spousal Maintenance In India: An Analysis

Ira Singhal, BBA.LLB (Hons.), OP Jindal Global University

INTRODUCTION

Maintenance in law is defined as the sum paid to the dependent wife, child, or parents in order for them to sustain themselves. The Law of maintenance in India specifies the procedure as to how to claim maintenance or support for both the wife and the children. Maintenance or alimony not only affects the judicial system of our country significantly but also has a major influence on the daily interpersonal lives of people and how they operate. This paper explores the statutory provisions of laws relating to maintenance and divorce in our country and how these some of the ways in which the courts have interpreted and applied these sections.

But before diving into the maintenance laws in our country and how they are governed, it is important to know why they are required and what is the need for such laws. In India, the institution of marriage is considered to be extremely sacred and rudimentary to our society. The society, especially women are expected to marry when they ‘come of age’ as one of their most important achievements in life. However, or the bride, once married, her biological family and domicile are effectively severed, and she is cut off from them.

She becomes a member of her husband's family. Her identity is transformed since she is known by her husband's surname, as are her personality and sometimes even her attire. A girl's life changes suddenly from carefree to one full of responsibility, with her being held accountable for every move she takes. Husband's home becomes her matrimonial home, with her major responsibility being to look after its upkeep and correct maintenance. Though a man's emotional and financial responsibilities increase with marriage, there is no change in his name, identity, family, or the way he dresses residence, as the concept is that a man is a wage earner of the family with the responsibility of providing the wife with a roof over her head. The majority of his eligibility to marry is determined the time he gets a job, and even if he is capable of setting up an independent life for himself and his wife, he is not obliged to do so or shift his domicile but is obligated to remain in his father's house with them even after he has a job. As a result, it is the wife's job to not just to look after not just his own needs but also those of his parents and other family members who share the house with him, to their satisfaction. As a result of the aftermath of marriage breakdowns and valuing independence and self-respect, an increasing number of women remain single and defy societal expectations to marry, as there has recently been an increase in visible resentment of the institution of marriage as perpetuating gender inequity and legitimising women's subordination and the contradiction between independent men marrying when they are no longer financially or structurally dependent on their parents and trying to adopt a Western image of nuclear families with a certain amount of worry and respect.