STUDY ON LAW RELATING TO MAINTENANCE IN INDIA WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO PERSONAL LAWS AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE CODE.

Marriage also called matrimony or wedlock is a socially or ritually recognized union between spouses that establishes rights and obligations between them, between them and their children, between them and their in-laws. When defined broadly, marriage is considered as a cultural universal, the legal status, condition, or relationship that results from a contract by which one man and one woman, who have the capacity to enter into such an agreement, mutually promise to live together in the relationship of husband and wife in law for life, or until the legal-termination of the relationship. Entering into a marriage contract changes the legal status of parties giving husband and wife new rights and obligations. The traditional principle upon which the institution of marriage is founded is that a husband has the obligation to support a wife and that a wife has the duty to serve. Individuals who seek to alter marital rights and duties are permitted to do so only within legally prescribed limits. The obligation on the part of the husband to maintain his wife continues even after the annulment of marriage. Maintenance which is synonymous to spousal support or alimony is a periodic monetary sum paid by one spouse for the benefit of the other upon separation or dissolution of the marriage. Moreover, it is a legal as well as social obligation on the part of the husband. The benevolent jurisprudence of maintenance is deeply rooted in the humanistic approach towards social and individual morality. It is secular and social in character, it is inspired by the noble aim of avoiding vagrancy and destitution. The concept of maintenance emanates from the tenets of social ethics and personal relations.