A wife, child or dependent parent who is left without support can ask a court to order monthly maintenance from the family member who is neglecting them. Since 1 July 2024 this remedy lives in Section 144 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023, which replaced Section 125 of the old Criminal Procedure Code. This guide explains who can claim, where to file, how fast it should move, and what to do when the other side does not pay.
Quick answer: File a maintenance application under Section 144 BNSS before the Judicial Magistrate First Class, or the Family Court if one exists in your district. A wife unable to maintain herself, a minor child, a disabled adult child, or a needy parent can claim. Interim maintenance should, as far as possible, be decided within sixty days.
Maintenance is a monthly money allowance a court orders a person to pay so that a dependent family member does not fall into destitution. It is a quick, criminal-side remedy meant to prevent starvation and vagrancy. It is separate from, and does not replace, any maintenance claim under personal or civil law.
The governing law is Section 144 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, in force from 1 July 2024. It carries forward the old Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 almost word for word. Under Section 144(1), a Magistrate of the First Class may order a monthly allowance against a person who has sufficient means but neglects or refuses to maintain:
Forum. The application goes to the Judicial Magistrate First Class. Under Section 7(2)(a) of the Family Courts Act, 1984, a Family Court exercises the same powers as a First Class Magistrate under this chapter, so where a Family Court exists in your district it hears the case instead.
Interim maintenance and the 60-day clock. The second proviso to Section 144(1) lets the Magistrate order interim maintenance and the expenses of the proceeding while the case is pending. The same proviso says such an application “shall, as far as possible, be disposed of within sixty days from the date of the service of notice.” Treat this as a strong target, not an absolute guarantee.
Supreme Court guidance. In Rajnesh v. Neha, (2021) 2 SCC 324 (decided 4 November 2020), the Supreme Court made an Affidavit of Disclosure of Assets and Liabilities mandatory in every maintenance case, gave separate formats for urban and rural deponents, and held that maintenance is ordinarily payable from the date of the application, not the date of the order.
Cases filed before 1 July 2024. Under the repeal-and-savings clause in Section 531(2)(a) BNSS, any maintenance application, inquiry or appeal already pending on 1 July 2024 continues under the old CrPC. Fresh applications filed on or after that date are made under Section 144 BNSS.
This route is different from the senior-citizen tribunal. Parents can also claim from children before a separate Maintenance Tribunal under the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007. See Senior citizen maintenance tribunal for that distinct process.
Kashvi Pathak, a homemaker in Lucknow district, was left without support after her husband stopped paying for the household. In August 2025 she filed an application under Section 144 BNSS before the Family Court, attaching the Affidavit of Disclosure of Assets and Liabilities and a prayer for interim maintenance. Notice was served in September 2025. The court granted interim maintenance of ₹12,000 per month within the sixty-day window, payable from the date of her application. When her husband missed two months, she applied under Section 144(3) and the court issued a warrant to recover the arrears.
IN THE FAMILY COURT AT [DISTRICT]
(OR: COURT OF THE JUDICIAL MAGISTRATE FIRST CLASS, [PLACE])
Maintenance Application No. ______ of 2026
Under Section 144 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023
[Applicant name, age, address] ... Applicant
versus
[Respondent name, age, address] ... Respondent
MOST RESPECTFULLY SHOWETH:
1. That the applicant is the [wife / minor child through guardian /
dependent parent] of the respondent.
2. That the respondent has sufficient means but has neglected and
refused to maintain the applicant since [date].
3. That the applicant is unable to maintain herself / himself and has
no independent income sufficient to live.
4. That the respondent earns approximately ₹[amount] per month from
[source] and owns [assets], as detailed in the accompanying
Affidavit of Disclosure of Assets and Liabilities.
5. That a reasonable monthly maintenance of ₹[amount] is sought,
payable from the date of this application.
PRAYER:
The applicant prays that this Court be pleased to:
(a) grant interim maintenance pending disposal of this application;
(b) order the respondent to pay monthly maintenance of ₹[amount]
from the date of application; and
(c) pass any further order this Court deems fit.
Place: [Signature]
Date: Applicant
Through counsel
VERIFICATION and AFFIDAVIT OF DISCLOSURE OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES
(in the format prescribed in Rajnesh v. Neha) annexed.
This is a general format only. Adapt it to your facts and your court's local rules, and take legal advice where you can.
You can file an RTI request to track and support your case. Ask a Family Court or district court Public Information Officer for the status of a pending maintenance case, the cause-list position, or for certified copies of orders where the rules allow. RTI does not replace the court's own copy-application process, but it is useful when a public-authority record (for example a government employer's salary details of the respondent) helps prove income. Draft a clean request with the AI RTI Drafter, and if a PIO ignores or refuses you, escalate using the First Appeal Builder.
For any maintenance case filed on or after 1 July 2024 it is Section 144 BNSS. Cases already pending on that date continue under the old Section 125 CrPC, under the savings clause in Section 531(2)(a) BNSS.
The second proviso to Section 144(1) says an interim maintenance application shall, as far as possible, be disposed of within sixty days from the date of service of notice. It is a strong target, not an absolute deadline.
Yes. The section defines “wife” to include a woman who has been divorced by, or has obtained a divorce from, her husband and has not remarried.
Yes, needy parents can claim under clause (d) of Section 144(1). Parents also have a separate, faster option before a tribunal under the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007. See Senior citizen maintenance tribunal.
Under Section 144(3) the court can issue a warrant to levy the unpaid amount and may order imprisonment for up to one month, or until payment. You must apply to recover arrears within one year of the amount falling due.
In Rajnesh v. Neha, (2021) 2 SCC 324, the Supreme Court held that maintenance is ordinarily payable from the date of the application, not the date of the final order.
It is a sworn statement of income, assets and liabilities that both sides must file in maintenance cases. The Supreme Court made it mandatory in Rajnesh v. Neha and prescribed separate formats for urban and rural deponents.
Before the Judicial Magistrate First Class, or the Family Court where one is established in your district under Section 7 of the Family Courts Act, 1984. You can file where you live, where the respondent lives, or where you last lived together.
The general Section 144 BNSS remedy applies broadly. A Muslim divorced woman also has rights under separate personal-law statutes. Take specific legal advice on which route best fits your facts.
See Section 125 Maintenance and Senior Citizen Maintenance and How to File RTI and RTI First Appeal.