MAINTENANCE OF WOMEN UNDER HINDU AND MUSLIM LAW IN INDIA: A COMPARATIVE STUDY WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO SECTION 125 CRPC

AUTHOR – NISTHA MISHRA* & SARITA YADAV**

* STUDENT AT AMITY UNIVERSITY LUCKNOW CAMPUS

** ASSISTANT PROFESSOR AT AMITY UNIVERSITY LUCKNOW CAMPUS

BEST CITATION – NISTHA MISHRA & SARITA YADAV, MAINTENANCE OF WOMEN UNDER HINDU AND MUSLIM LAW IN INDIA: A COMPARATIVE STUDY WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO SECTION 125 CRPC, INDIAN JOURNAL OF LEGAL REVIEW (IJLR), 6 (1) OF 2026, PG.793-808, APIS – 3920 – 0001 & ISSN – 2583-2344.

Abstract

Across personal law boundaries, maintenance in Indian family law serves as a secular, welfare-oriented remedy to prevent destitution of wives, divorced women, children, and parents. This paper examines in detail the scheme of maintenance for women under Hindu and Muslim law, analyses the interface with Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (CrPC), and critically discusses leading Supreme Court decisions such as Shah Bano, Danial Latifi, Shamim Ara, Bhagwan Dutt, Chand Dhawan and Rajnesh v.  Neha.  In light of Articles 14, 15(3), and 21 of the Constitution, as well as recent jurisprudence affirming Muslim divorced women’s right to claim maintenance under Section 125 despite the 1986 Act, it concludes with a normative evaluation and reform recommendations.

Keywords – Maintenance, Stridhan, Constitutional Infusion, Substantive Right, Relief