Allahabad High Court Rules Daughter-in-Law Not Legally Bound to Maintain Parents-in-Law Under Section 144 BNSS

By Rajesh Pandey

The Allahabad High Court has clarified that a daughter-in-law cannot be legally compelled to provide maintenance to her parents-in-law under the statutory provisions governing maintenance laws.

The court observed that the right to claim maintenance is strictly defined by law and is limited only to those categories of dependents specifically mentioned in the statute.

Delivering the judgment on February 4, Justice Madan Pal Singh held that Section 125 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) — now replaced by Section 144 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) — does not include parents-in-law among the persons entitled to claim maintenance from a daughter-in-law.

The court emphasised that maintenance is a statutory right and can only be enforced within the framework clearly laid down by the legislature.

It further observed that although a moral responsibility may exist in certain family situations, such moral considerations cannot be converted into a legally enforceable obligation unless expressly provided under law.

“The legislature, in its wisdom, has not included parents-in-law within the ambit of the said provision.

In other words, it is not the scheme of the legislature to fasten liability of maintenance upon a daughter-in-law towards her parents-in-law under the said provision,” the court observed while dismissing the petition.

The case arose from a criminal revision plea filed by an elderly couple, Rakesh Kumar and his wife, who had challenged an August 2025 order of the Family Court in Agra.

The family court had earlier rejected their application seeking maintenance from their daughter-in-law under Section 144 BNSS.

The petitioners submitted that they were aged, financially weak, and illiterate, and had been completely dependent on their son during his lifetime.

After their son’s death, they claimed they were left without financial support.

They argued that their daughter-in-law, who is employed as a constable in the Uttar Pradesh Police, has an independent source of income and has also received the service-related financial benefits of their deceased son.

The elderly couple further contended that the daughter-in-law’s moral duty to care for her late husband’s parents should be treated as a legal obligation under the maintenance law. However, the High Court did not accept this argument.

The court noted that there was no material on record to establish that the daughter-in-law had obtained her employment in the police department on compassionate grounds following her husband’s death.

The court also clarified that issues relating to inheritance or succession to the deceased son’s property could not be adjudicated in summary maintenance proceedings under Section 144 BNSS.

Finding no illegality, irregularity, or perversity in the order passed by the Family Court, the High Court concluded that the decision was legally sound and did not require interference.

Accordingly, the criminal revision petition filed by the elderly couple was dismissed.

The ruling reiterates that maintenance claims under Section 144 BNSS remain confined to legally recognised categories of dependents and cannot be expanded based solely on moral expectations without clear statutory backing.