The Court noted that the provisions of Section 125 of CrPC does not mention parents-in-law as “relatives” eligible for maintenance by a widowed woman.
The Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court recently ruled that parents-in-law cannot seek maintenance from their widowed daughter-in-law under Section 125 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) in the case of Shobha Sanjay Tidke vs Kishanrao Ramrao Tidke.
Justice Kishore Sant, a single-judge, overturned the orders of a Nyayadhikari Gram Nyayalaya, which had directed Shobha Tidke to provide maintenance to her elderly parents-in-law under Section 125.
The High Court observed that Section 125 only permits legitimate and illegitimate children, major or physically disabled children, and elderly parents (father and mother) to claim maintenance, and does not include parents-in-law as “relatives” eligible for maintenance from a widowed woman.
“Reading of the Section 125, it is clear that the father-in-law and mother-in-law are not mentioned in the said Section. Even for the Clause (a) to (d), those are qualified by further wording as unable to maintain himself or herself,” the Court observed in its order passed on April 12.
The Court acknowledged that a similar issue had previously been raised in a separate case, in which the High Court had unequivocally ruled that parents-in-law do not have the right to seek maintenance from their widowed daughter-in-law.
“It is held that it is not the scheme of legislature and the legislature has not included parents-in-law in Section 125. The list given of the relations is exhaustive and there is no scope for any other interpretation,” the bench held.
According to the details of the case, Shobha, the petitioner, lost her husband who was employed as a conductor with the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC).
Subsequently, Shobha obtained employment with the State’s health department. However, her elderly parents-in-law filed an application seeking maintenance from her, citing their age and inability to care for themselves.
The Nyayadhikari Gram Nyayalaya in Jalkot, Latur district, granted the application for maintenance.
The petitioner, Shobha, raised objections to the maintenance claim of her parents-in-law, stating that her in-laws have four married daughters who are financially well-off. She further highlighted that her in-laws possess at least 2.30 acres of land and that her mother-in-law had received a sum of ₹1.88 lakh after her husband’s death, in addition to some money being paid to her minor son.
Additionally, the petitioner argued that since her in-laws’ four daughters also have a share in the family property, they should be responsible for providing maintenance to their parents.
The counsel representing Shobha’s in-laws referred to a previous case where the High Court had ordered a widowed daughter-in-law to maintain her parents-in-law, claiming that the in-laws were solely dependent on their son. The counsel argued that since Shobha would inherit her husband’s property, it would be her responsibility to maintain her in-laws.
However, Shobha contested this argument, pointing out that the previous case was different as the daughter-in-law in that case had secured a job on compassionate grounds and had undertaken to support the family. In contrast, Shobha had not obtained a job on compassionate grounds and had not replaced her husband’s role, thus she was not legally obliged to pay maintenance under Section 125 of the CrPC.
Accepting Shobha’s contentions, the bench overturned the orders of the Nyayadhikari Gram Nyayalaya.
Advocate JM Murkute appeared for the Petitioner.
Advocate Subhash S Chillarge represented the In-laws.
Source: https://www.barandbench.com/news/widowed-daughter-in-law-not-liable-maintain-parents-in-law-section-125-crpc-bombay-high-court
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