Maintenance includes Right to Food, Clothing, Education

SC: Maintenance includes Right to Food, Clothing, Education The Supreme Court has held that the right to maintenance to a wife includes right to residence, food, clothing, education and medical care. A bench comprising Justices Arijit Pasayat and Mukundakam Sharma, while disposing off the appeal of Ms Komalam Amma, noted ‘Maintenance, as we see it, necessarily must and encompass a provision for residence’. ‘Maintenance is given so that lady can live in the manner, more or less, to which she was accustomed,’ the court said. The concept of maintenance must, therefore include provision for food and clothing and the like and take into account the basic need of a roof over head. Provision for residence may be made either by giving a lump sum in money or property in lieu of cash. It may also be made by providing, for the course of the lady’s life, a residence and money for other necessary expenditure. The apex court remanded the matter to the Kerala High Court for re-hearing the appeal after taking into consideration the judgement of this court in Mangatmal and B Achala Anand’s cases. The Supreme Court also made it clear that it has not expressed any opinion on the merits of the case. UNI

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