Introduction
Maintenance is one of the most litigated areas in Indian family law, deeply connected to gender justice, financial security, and matrimonial stability. Over the past few years, maintenance jurisprudence has undergone significant transformation. By 2025, several Supreme Court judgments, High Court rulings, statutory updates, and enforcement mechanisms have re-shaped how maintenance is determined, enforced, and quantified in India.
This article provides a detailed analysis of the major developments in maintenance law after 2025, covering changes under the Hindu Marriage Act, the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, Section 125 CrPC (now Chapter 9 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita), the Domestic Violence Act, and judicial trends influencing uniform standards for maintenance.
- Shift From Discretionary Assessment to Structured Calculation
A. Supreme Court’s Push for Standardisation
Before 2025, maintenance awards varied widely from court to court. Recognising this inconsistency, the Supreme Court has repeatedly emphasised the need for uniform parameters. Post-2025, courts increasingly adopt a structured assessment model that evaluates:
- Income proof (salary slips, ITR, digital payment records),
- Actual standard of living during the marriage,
- Rise in cost of living and inflation,
- Non-monetary contributions of the wife (childcare, household management),
- Earning capacity vs. actual income of both parties.
Courts now rely less on assumptions and more on verifiable financial material. Digital transparency and compulsory financial disclosure (discussed below) have strengthened this shift.
- Mandatory Financial Disclosure Became Stricter
A. Enforcement of Affidavit of Assets & Liabilities
Following the Supreme Court’s directions in Rajnesh v. Neha, trial courts now strictly enforce the requirement for spouses to file Affidavit of Assets, Income and Expenditures. After 2025:
- Non-filing can lead to adverse inference, And Wilfully hiding income can attract perjury proceedings,
- Courts increasingly demand supporting documents such as bank statements, UPI transaction summaries, credit card statements, GST returns, and business ledgers.
- The introduction of digital payment ecosystems has reduced the scope for concealing income.
- Maintenance Under BNSS (Replacing CrPC) – A Major Legislative Change
A. Chapter 9 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS)
BNSS replaced the CrPC in 2025, and Section 125 CrPC now falls under Sections 144–148 BNSS.
Key changes affecting maintenance include:
1. Faster disposal timelines:
BNSS imposes stricter outer limits for completing inquiries
2. Better enforcement mechanisms:
Courts now have clearer powers to:
Issue warrants,
- Attach property,
- Deduct salary directly,
- Initiate civil jail proceedings for wilful default.
- Gender-neutral applicability retained:
The right to claim maintenance remains open to:
- Wife or husband (who is unable to maintain himself), Parents, Minor children, And Adult children with disabilities.
- Interim maintenance prioritised:
BNSS encourages early grant of interim support to prevent prolonged destitution.
4. Rise in Interim Maintenance Orders
After 2025, courts have increasingly prioritised interim maintenance to avoid hardship during prolonged litigation.
Where earlier interim orders took months, now fast-track directives and Supreme Court monitoring have reduced delays substantially.
Courts have clarified that:
- Interim maintenance should reflect the standard of living during the marriage,
- It must be sufficient, not nominal,
- Deliberate unemployment by the husband is not a ground to reduce or deny support.
5. Stronger Protection of Women Against Non-Consensual Financial Abuse
A. Domestic Violence Act Expanded in Interpretation
Courts have interpreted economic abuse under the Domestic Violence Act more broadly.
Post-2025, judicial interpretation recognises:
- Refusal to give money for basic needs as economic violence,
- Withholding access to bank accounts or stridhan as abuse,
- Interference with a woman’s earning capacity as a maintenance-relevant factor.
- This has strengthened the right to residence and monthly monetary relief under the DV Act.
- Maintenance for Live-In Partners and Children Born Out of Such Relationships
Courts after 2025 have taken a progressive approach in recognising:
- Long-term live-in relationships as “relationships in the nature of marriage” under the Domestic Violence Act,
- Children born from such relationships as entitled to maintenance equal to that of children born within marriage.
Judgments after 2025 increasingly presume such relationships genuine unless proven otherwise.
- Enforcement Became Significantly Stronger
Enforcement of maintenance orders has historically been one of the weakest areas in Indian family law. Even after courts passed maintenance orders, spouses—mostly women—were forced into prolonged execution proceedings, repeated adjournments, and endless delays.
Post-2025, the judiciary has taken a far more stringent and no-tolerance approach toward wilful defaulters. Several landmark rulings and procedural reforms have made maintenance enforcement both efficient and punitive.
A. Direct Recovery Through Salary and Bank Accounts
Courts now increasingly bypass the slow execution process and order direct deduction from:
- Monthly salary of the defaulting spouse,
- Professional income (commission-based or consultancy arrangements),
- Rental income from property,
- Bank accounts and digital wallets.
High Courts (Delhi, Bombay, Kerala, Karnataka) have held that maintenance is an immediate financial obligation, not an optional payment. Therefore, attachment orders can be passed swiftly, including standing instructions to employers and banks.
Interest on unpaid maintenance,
Costs for frivolous objections,
Penalties for hiding assets.
B. Travel Restrictions and Passport Impoundment
Where defaulters attempt to relocate abroad to avoid liability, courts have authorised:
- Impounding of passport under the Passports Act,
- Directions to immigration authorities to restrict travel until arrears are cleared,
- Disclosure of foreign employment details.
- This prevents the common practice of leaving India to delay or escape maintenance proceedings.
C. Penalties, Interest and Costs for Delayed Payment
Maintenance orders now routinely include:
- Interest on delayed payments (exceptionally 6%–12% depending on the case),
- Litigation costs imposed on the defaulting spouse,
- Penalties for filing frivolous objections or false affidavits.
Courts have clarified that delays caused by the husband in filing income documents or avoiding summons do not suspend the obligation to pay.
D. Prioritisation of Maintenance Over Other Financial Liabilities
Post-2025 judicial developments give maintenance a status akin to a first financial charge.
Courts have consistently held:
- Maintenance dues take priority over EMIs, business loans, or personal luxury expenses.
- The spouse cannot claim inability to pay while maintaining a lifestyle involving cars, travel, luxury spending, etc.
- Digital lifestyle evidence (Instagram, travel bookings, PayTM spends, etc.) is admissible to prove higher earning capacity.
This ensures maintenance remains a non-negotiable legal obligation.
- Recognition of Women’s Unpaid Labour in Maintenance Calculations
One of the most crucial progressive shifts in post-2025 maintenance jurisprudence is the formal judicial acknowledgment of a woman’s unpaid labour, especially in the context of homemaking, caregiving, child-rearing, and domestic management. Traditionally, the Indian legal system viewed “income” narrowly—primarily in terms of employment and monetary earnings. However, recent judgments and policy developments have adopted a more realistic, feminist, and economically grounded understanding of domestic work.
A. Homemaker’s Contribution Considered as Economic Value
Courts across India have recognized that activities such as:
- cooking,
- cleaning,
- managing household affairs,
- caring for children and elders,
- emotional labour,
- supporting the husband’s professional progress,
constitute significant economic contributions.
While these tasks may not produce direct monetary income, they enable the earning spouse to build a career, focus on employment, save expenses, and maintain a stable lifestyle.
Thus, when marriages break down, courts now factor the economic value of unpaid labour into maintenance awards.
- Shift Toward Gender-Neutral Maintenance Jurisprudence
In line with India’s broader movement toward equality before law, the post-2025 maintenance framework has undergone a significant transformation toward gender-neutrality. While historically maintenance laws were designed to protect economically dependent wives, the judiciary has now recognized that dependence can arise irrespective of gender, and that marital rights and obligations must evolve to reflect contemporary social realities.
A. Judicial Recognition of Male and Non-Female Dependents
Indian courts have clarified that financial vulnerability is not gender-specific.
Accordingly, in appropriate cases:
- husbands,
- male partners,
- elderly or disabled spouses (irrespective of sex),
- and even non-binary partners within recognized legal frameworks,
may seek maintenance if they can demonstrate economic dependency and inability to sustain themselves.
This marks a shift away from the assumption that men are always financially stable or primary earners.
B. Statutory Provisions Already Gender-Neutral
Certain maintenance-related laws are already drafted in gender-neutral language, such as:
- Section 125 CrPC (maintenance available to “wife or husband unable to maintain themselves”)
- Senior Citizens Act (children must maintain parents, regardless of gender)
- Judicial interpretation of domestic violence and live-in relationship rights post-2025
Courts have now begun harmonizing these provisions with personal laws to ensure uniformity.
C. Equality Principle Under Articles 14 & 15
Recent judicial interpretations emphasize that:
- Article 14 of the Constitution prohibits arbitrary gender-based distinctions.
- Article 15 allows special protections for women, but not perpetual presumptions of male dominance.
Thus, when maintenance is awarded solely based on gender, without assessing capability, income, and contribution, courts have held it to be constitutionally unsustainable.
The shift is therefore not anti-woman; it is pro-equality.
Digital Evidence Became Central to Maintenance Litigation
Post-2025 courts increasingly rely on:
- Social media posts indicating lifestyle,
- UPI/gPay transaction history,
- Ride-hailing and food delivery histories,
- Instagram reels showing travel/luxury spending,
- Location tracking data (with due legal process).
Digital footprints have become crucial in assessing actual income and standard of living.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the post-2025 maintenance framework represents a decisive shift from traditional, gender-skewed and income-centric models toward a jurisprudence grounded in fairness, equity and constitutional values. Courts now treat maintenance as an essential component of the right to life under Article 21—ensuring not merely subsistence but a dignified standard of living. The reforms focus on realistic assessment of financial needs, strict disclosure of income and assets, quicker adjudication, and robust enforcement, thereby making maintenance orders more effective and transparent.
A major milestone has been the formal recognition of unpaid domestic and caregiving labour, which historically remained invisible in maintenance assessments. By assigning economic value to homemakers’ work and recognising long-term contributions made within marriage, the courts have corrected structural imbalances and ensured a more equitable calculation of maintenance. Simultaneously, the move towards gender-neutral maintenance—where relief is determined not by gender but by economic dependence, vulnerability, and overall circumstances—aligns modern maintenance jurisprudence with Articles 14 and 15’s mandate of substantive equality.
Taken together, these developments signal a mature and progressive legal regime where maintenance is understood not as charity or penal consequence but as a continuing responsibility arising from marital and familial relations. The post-2025 approach is more empathetic, rights-oriented and socially aware, ensuring that the law keeps pace with shifting social norms, evolving family structures, and contemporary economic realities. Ultimately, the reformed framework aspires to deliver a maintenance system that is balanced, just, and humane for all parties involved.
Contributed By – Krishnkant Sharma ( Intern )