Section 18

Maintenance of wife.

The Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956

  • Act 78 of 1956
  • Ministry of Law and Justice
  • Legislative Department
About this Act

An Act to amend and codify the law relating to adoptions and maintenance among Hindus.

All sections
    (1) Subject to the provisions of this section, a Hindu wife, whether married before or after the commencement of this Act, shall be entitled to be maintained by her husband during her life time.
     (2) A Hindu wife shall be entitled to live separately from her husband without forfeiting her claim to maintenance,
         (a) if he is guilty of desertion, that is to say, of abandoning her without reasonable cause and without her consent or against her wish, or of wilfully neglecting her;
         (b) if he has treated her with such cruelty as to cause a reasonable apprehension in her mind that it will be harmful or injurious to live with her husband;
        1*                                        *                                        *                                        *                                        *
         (d) if he has any other wife living;
         (e) if he keeps a concubine in the same house in which his wife is living or habitually resides with a concubine elsewhere;
         (f) if he has ceased to be a Hindu by conversion to another religion;
         (g) if there is any other cause justifying her living separately.
     (3) A Hindu wife shall not be entitled to separate residence and maintenance from her husband if she is unchaste or ceases to be a Hindu by conversion to another religion.

Notes

1. Clause (c) omitted by Act 6 of 2019, s. 6 (w.e.f. 1-3-2019).

Source: India Code (Legislative Department, Govt. of India). Check the official Gazette before relying on it in court. Not legal advice. Free legal aid: 15100 (NALSA) · Know your rights

Scroll to Top