Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (now Section 144 of BNSS) is a secular, speedy, and summary remedy designed to prevent vagrancy by compelling a person with sufficient means to maintain their dependent relatives.
1. Core Ingredients: Who Can Claim?
Under Section 125(1), if any person having sufficient means neglects or refuses to maintain:
- His wife (who is unable to maintain herself, including a divorced wife who has not remarried).
- His minor child (legitimate or illegitimate, married or unmarried, unable to maintain itself).
- His father or mother (unable to maintain themselves).
2. Statutory Exceptions: Section 125(4)
A wife is barred from claiming maintenance under this section if:
- She is living in adultery.
- She refuses to live with her husband without any sufficient reason.
- The parties are living separately by mutual consent.
📜 Landmark Case: Mohd. Ahmed Khan v. Shah Bano Begum (1985)
The Supreme Court held that Section 125 is a secular welfare provision that overrides personal laws. A divorced Muslim woman who is unable to maintain herself is entitled to maintenance under Section 125 even after the expiry of the *Iddat* period.