Maintenance in Hyderabad: How to Claim It in the Family Courts

Maintenance is money that a court can order a person with sufficient means to pay to a spouse, child or parent who cannot maintain themselves, usually monthly. In Hyderabad, maintenance claims are heard mainly by the family courts. This guide explains the different laws a claim can be made under, who can claim, where to file, how interim maintenance works, how an order is enforced or changed, and what the Supreme Court requires both sides to disclose.

Which law applies · BNSS section 144 · Hindu law · Domestic violence law · Muslim women · Parents and senior citizens · Disclosure affidavit · Family courts in Hyderabad

Which law applies

More than one law can apply to the same family, and a claim under one does not always rule out another. The main routes:

Maintenance under BNSS section 144

The BNSS came into force on 1 July 2024. Its sections 144 to 147 carry the same headings and substantially the same text as sections 125 to 128 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, which they replaced. Two changes matter here: section 144(1)(b) no longer uses the word “minor” for children, and section 145(1) adds the district where the father or mother resides. Applications pending before 1 July 2024 continue under the old Code (section 531).

Who can claim

Where a person with sufficient means neglects or refuses to maintain them, the following can claim (section 144(1)):

• his wife, if she is unable to maintain herself; “wife” includes a woman who has been divorced and has not remarried;
• his child, legitimate or illegitimate, married or not, who is unable to maintain itself;
• his child (other than a married daughter) who has reached majority but cannot maintain itself because of a physical or mental abnormality or injury;
• his father or mother, if unable to maintain himself or herself.

Section 125 of the old Code limited clause (b), the second item above, to a minor child. Courts decide case by case how this change applies.

The court may order a monthly allowance at the rate it thinks fit; the section sets no upper limit.

Interim maintenance

While the case is pending, the court may order interim maintenance and the expenses of the proceeding. An application for interim maintenance is to be decided, as far as possible, within 60 days of service of notice of the application.

From what date

Section 144(2) says maintenance is payable from the date of the order or, if the court so orders, from the date of the application. The Supreme Court’s judgment in Rajnesh v Neha (4 November 2020) directs that maintenance in all cases be awarded from the date of filing the application (as reported; we have not seen an official copy of this passage).

When a wife cannot claim

A wife is not entitled to an allowance if she is living in adultery, if without sufficient reason she refuses to live with her husband, or if they are living separately by mutual consent (section 144(4)). If the husband offers to maintain her on condition that she lives with him and she refuses, the court may still order maintenance if there is just ground; his marrying another woman or keeping a mistress is treated as just ground (section 144(3)). An existing order is cancelled on proof of any of the three facts (section 144(5)).

Where to file

A case can be filed in any district where the person liable to pay is, where he or his wife resides, where he last resided with his wife, or, for parents, where the father or mother resides (section 145(1)). If he wilfully avoids service or wilfully neglects to attend, the case can be heard ex parte; such an order can be set aside for good cause on an application made within three months.

If the order is not obeyed

If the person ordered to pay fails without sufficient cause, the court can issue a warrant to recover the amount as fines are recovered, and can sentence him to imprisonment for up to one month for each month’s allowance that remains unpaid after the warrant is executed, or until payment if sooner made (section 144(3)). An application to recover arrears must be made within one year from the date the amount became due. The order can be enforced by a Magistrate wherever the person liable may be (section 147).

Changing or cancelling an order

• On proof of a change in the circumstances of either side, the court may alter the amount (section 146(1)).
• For a divorced woman, the order is cancelled from the date she remarries, and is also to be cancelled where she was divorced by her husband and has received the whole sum payable on divorce under customary or personal law, or where she obtained the divorce and voluntarily gave up her rights to maintenance (section 146(3)).
• Any sum paid under the order is taken into account if a civil court later decrees maintenance (section 146(4)).

Where a Family Court passes the order, no appeal lies against it, but the High Court can examine it in revision (Family Courts Act, section 19(2) and (4)). Other orders of a Family Court that are not interlocutory and were not passed with the consent of the parties, such as orders under HAMA or section 25 of the Hindu Marriage Act, can be appealed to the High Court (section 19(1) and (2)). The Family Courts Act allows 30 days for an appeal (section 19(3)), while the Hindu Marriage Act allows 90 days for appeals under that Act (section 28(4)); which period applies to a Family Court’s Hindu Marriage Act order is for the court, so the 30-day period is the safer one to work to.

Hindu law: HAMA and the Hindu Marriage Act

Under the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956 (HAMA):

• Wife: a Hindu wife is entitled to be maintained by her husband during her lifetime (section 18(1)). She can live separately without losing maintenance if he has deserted her, treated her with cruelty, has another wife living, keeps a concubine, has ceased to be a Hindu by conversion, or for any other justifying cause (section 18(2)). She loses this right if she is unchaste or ceases to be a Hindu by conversion (section 18(3)).
• Children and parents: a Hindu is bound to maintain his or her children and aged or infirm parents. A child can claim while a minor; an aged or infirm parent or an unmarried daughter can claim so far as they cannot maintain themselves from their own earnings or property (section 20).
• Widowed daughter-in-law: can claim from her father-in-law in the limited circumstances in section 19.
• Amount: the court considers, among other things, the position and status of the parties, the claimant’s reasonable wants, whether living separately is justified, the claimant’s own property and income, and the number of persons entitled (section 23). The amount can be altered on a material change in circumstances (section 25).

Under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, in a divorce or other matrimonial case, a wife or husband without sufficient independent income can ask for maintenance and litigation expenses while the case is pending, to be decided as far as possible within 60 days (section 24). At or after the decree, the court can order permanent alimony as a lump sum or periodic payments, having regard to both parties’ income and property, conduct and other circumstances, and can later vary or cancel it (section 25).

Domestic violence: monetary relief

Under section 20 of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005, a Magistrate can order monetary relief to meet expenses and losses caused by domestic violence, including maintenance for the woman and her children, under or in addition to an order under section 125 CrPC (now BNSS section 144) or any other law. The relief must be adequate, fair and reasonable and consistent with her accustomed standard of living. If the respondent defaults, the Magistrate can direct his employer or debtor to pay part of his wages, salary or debt directly to her or into court (section 20(6)). These reliefs can also be sought in any other case between the same parties before a civil, family or criminal court (section 26). See our guide on your rights in domestic violence cases in Hyderabad.

Muslim women

In Mohd. Abdul Samad v State of Telangana (10 July 2024), an appeal from the Telangana High Court, the Supreme Court held that section 125 CrPC (now BNSS section 144) applies to all married women, including Muslim women, and that a woman married and divorced under Muslim law may seek maintenance under section 125, under the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986, or both, since the 1986 Act is in addition to section 125. Any order under the 1986 Act is taken into account in the section 125 proceeding. The judgment was given under section 125 of the old Code. The words of BNSS section 144 about wives, and its definition of “wife”, are the same as in section 125.

Under section 3 of the 1986 Act, a divorced Muslim woman is entitled to a reasonable and fair provision and maintenance to be made and paid within the iddat period by her former husband, maintenance for children she maintains for two years from their birth, her mahr or dower, and properties given to her. The Magistrate is to decide an application within one month, unless reasons are recorded for a longer time. In Danial Latifi v Union of India (2001), as quoted in Abdul Samad, the Supreme Court held that this provision must be made within the iddat period but covers her future beyond it, and that the husband’s liability under section 3(1)(a) is not confined to the iddat period.

Children of Muslim parents can claim maintenance under section 125 CrPC until they attain majority or are able to maintain themselves, whichever is earlier, and daughters until they marry, as the Supreme Court held in Noor Saba Khatoon v Mohd. Quasim (1997), a case decided under section 125 of the old Code; this is not limited by the two-year provision in the 1986 Act.

Parents and senior citizens

A father or mother can claim under BNSS section 144, or a parent or senior citizen (60 or above) can apply under the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007, but not under both (section 12 of the 2007 Act). Under that Act:

• a parent or grandparent can claim against one or more adult children or grandchildren; a childless senior citizen can claim against a relative who has or would inherit their property (section 4);
• the application goes to a Maintenance Tribunal presided over by an officer not below the rank of Sub-Divisional Officer, and is to be decided within 90 days of service of notice, extendable once by up to 30 days (sections 5 and 7);
• as enacted, the Act lets the State Government fix the maximum monthly allowance, which cannot exceed Rs 10,000 (section 9(2)); we have not confirmed the figure Telangana has prescribed or whether this limit has since been amended;
• if the amount is not paid, an application to recover it must be made to the Tribunal within three months from the date it became due (section 5(8));
• no party before the Tribunal is to be represented by a legal practitioner, though a Maintenance Officer may represent a parent (sections 17 and 18);
• a senior citizen or parent can appeal within 60 days, and the person ordered to pay must keep paying during the appeal (sections 15 and 16).

The Centre for Good Governance, which built Telangana’s online senior citizens maintenance case system, describes Revenue Divisional Officers giving reasons where a case takes longer than 90 days, and appeals going to the Collector. We have not seen the Telangana notification constituting the Tribunals.

Disclosure affidavit: Rajnesh v Neha

In Rajnesh v Neha, the Supreme Court directed that both parties file an Affidavit of Disclosure of Assets and Liabilities in all maintenance proceedings, including pending ones, before the Family Court, District Court or Magistrate, across the country. As quoted by the Supreme Court in Aditi v Jitesh Sharma (6 November 2023):

• the applicant files the application with the affidavit, and the respondent replies with an affidavit within a maximum of four weeks, with not more than two opportunities;
• if the respondent seeks more than two adjournments to file the reply and affidavit, the court may consider striking off the respondent’s defence if the delay is wilful and contumacious, and if the affidavit is not filed in time the court may decide the application on the applicant’s affidavit and the pleadings;
• the requirement to file the affidavit is dispensed with for parties in the economically weaker sections, below the poverty line or casual labourers;
• children’s living expenses include food, clothing, residence, medical expenses and education; education expenses are normally borne by the father, and may be shared proportionately if the wife is working and earning sufficiently.

In Aditi v Jitesh Sharma, the Supreme Court found that courts were still fixing maintenance without these affidavits and directed that the Rajnesh guidelines be circulated again to all judicial officers. The affidavit format asks each party for details of any past or ongoing maintenance proceedings and copies of orders. The Rajnesh judgment (unofficial copy) also directs courts to consider adjusting amounts already awarded under another law, and lists factors for fixing the amount, such as the parties’ status, reasonable needs, income and standard of living.

Family courts in Hyderabad

A Family Court hears maintenance suits and proceedings and also exercises a Magistrate’s maintenance jurisdiction; where a Family Court exists, a Magistrate does not hear BNSS section 144 cases for that area (Family Courts Act, sections 7 and 8). Applications under the Domestic Violence Act still go to the Magistrate; in Hyderabad, two Metropolitan Magistrate courts dealing with them sit in the Kalpataru complex listed below. The Family Court is to try first to bring about a settlement (section 9), must hold proceedings in camera if either party wishes (section 11), and no party is entitled as of right to be represented by a lawyer; the court may seek the help of a legal expert as amicus curiae (section 13).

• Hyderabad: the Principal Family Court and Additional Family Courts sit in the Integrated Family Court Complex, Kalpataru Building, Purna Haveli, Chatta Bazar, Hyderabad 500002, opened on 18 March 2023.
• Ranga Reddy: the Family Court and Additional Family Court are listed at L.B. Nagar (the district court complex is at NTR Nagar, L.B. Nagar), and an Additional Family Court for Cyberabad sits at Kukatpally.

Documents to keep ready

As a practical matter, keep the marriage certificate or other proof of relationship, children’s birth certificates, proof of your own income and expenses (such as income tax returns, salary slips or Form 16, and bank statements), any available information about the other side’s income, assets and employment, and copies of earlier petitions or orders, since the disclosure affidavit asks for income, assets, liabilities, children’s expenses and earlier proceedings.

Free legal aid

Under section 12(c) of the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987, every woman and child who has to file or defend a case is entitled to free legal services, without an income test, if the legal services authority is satisfied that there is a prima facie case (section 13). Others, including men, may qualify under other clauses, such as low income (section 12(h)). Apply to the legal services authority for the district.

Related guides: family and divorce, mutual consent divorce in Hyderabad and domestic violence cases.

For a discussion about a maintenance matter with Musab Hashmi & Associates, call +91 89771 24916 or send an enquiry. Do not include identity numbers or copies of documents in the first message.

General legal information, not legal advice. Checked on 26 October 2026 against the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956 (as amended in 2019), the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005, the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007 (as enacted), the Family Courts Act, 1984, the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987, the Supreme Court judgments cited (Rajnesh v Neha from an unofficial copy and as quoted in Aditi v Jitesh Sharma), section 3 of the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986 as quoted in Mohd. Abdul Samad, and the official websites of the Hyderabad and Ranga Reddy district courts and the Telangana Centre for Good Governance.