Father-in-law not liable to pay interim maintenance: Court

A man is not liable to provide maintenance to his son's estranged wife, a Delhi court has said while deciding a woman's plea for interim maintenance.
"The father-in-law is not liable to provide maintenance to the complainant. Only a husband is legally and morally duty bound to provide maintenance to his wife," Metropolitan Magistrate Rachna Lakhanpal said.
The court passed the order while rejecting the plea of a woman seeking interim maintenance from her father-in-law during the pendency of a dispute concerning domestic violence between her and her estranged husband, who she claimed was jobless.
The woman had contended that since her father-in-law is a retired principal and has three properties in his name, he is liable to provide her maintenance.

The northwest Delhi resident had in her plea told the court that her marriage was solemnised in December 1999. She alleged that her husband was an alcoholic who subjected her to domestic violence and threw her out of the matrimonial house, hence she should be provided interim maintenance.
She had claimed that since her husband was not earning and not even appearing in court, her father-in-law should maintain her.
The court, however, rejected her plea saying since only a husband is legally bound to provide maintenance, it is now for the woman to prove that her husband is an able-bodied person and able to provide her maintenance.