May be useful :
Given below are some relevant statutory provisions & excerpts from (1) Hon’ble Supreme Court judgment passed on 14th March, 2008 by the Bench of Justice S.B. Sinha & Justice V.S. Sirpurkar, in the case of Vimalben Ajitbhai Patel vs Vatslabeen Ashokbhai Patel And Ors. - 2008 (3) SCC 649 – and also (2) Hon’ble Punjab & Haryana High Court judgment dated 21.10.2016 in the case of Varinder Kaur Vs. Jitender Kumar & Anr.
Statutory provisions on the issue of maintenance:
Section 4(b) of HAMA - "4. Overriding effect of Act Save as otherwise expressly provided in this Act,-
(b) any other law in force immediately before the commencement of this Act shall cease to apply to Hindus insofar as it is inconsistent with any of the provisions contained in this Act.
Section 18 - Maintenance of wife (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.
Section 19 (2) : Any obligation under sub-section (1) shall not be enforceable if the father-in law has not the means to do so from any coparcenary property in his possession out of which the daughter-in-law has not obtained any share, and any such obligation shall cease on the re-marriage of the daughter-in-law."
SC Judgment-
Paragraph 21. Maintenance of a married wife, during subsistence of marriage, is on the husband. It is a personal obligation. The obligation to maintain a daughter-in-law arises only when the husband has died. Such an obligation can also be met from the properties of which the husband is a co-sharer and not otherwise. For invoking the said provision, the husband must have a share in the property. The property in the name of the mother-in-law can neither be a subject matter of attachment nor during the life time of the husband, his personal liability to maintain his wife can be directed to be enforced against such property.
22. Wholly un-contentious issues have been raised before us on behalf of Sonalben (wife). It is well settled that apparent state of affairs of state shall be taken a real state of affairs. It is not for an owner of the property to establish that it is his self-acquired property and the onus would be on the one, who pleads contra. Sonalben might be entitled to maintenance from her husband. An order of maintenance might have been passed but in view of the settled legal position, the decree, if any, must be executed against her husband and only his properties could be attached therefor but not of her mother-in-law.
24. Section 4 provides for a non obstante clause. In terms of the said provision itself any obligation on the part of in-laws in terms of any text, rule or interpretation of Hindu Law or any custom or usage as part of law before the commencement of the Act, are no longer valid. In view of the non obstante clause contained in Section 4, the provisions of the Act alone are applicable. Sections 18 and 19 prescribe the statutory liabilities in regard to maintenance of wife by her husband and only on his death upon the father-in-law, Mother-in-law, thus, cannot be fastened with any legal liability to maintain her daughter-in-law from her own property or otherwise.
Hon’ble Punjab & Haryana High Court in it’s judgment dated 21.10.2016 in the case of Varinder Kaur Vs. Jitender Kumar & Anr. has held that a woman cannot claim as a matter of right to occupy any part of a self-acquired property of her husband’s parents against their wishes.
Relying on apex court judgments, the court observed, “During subsistence of marriage, maintenance of a married wife is a personal obligation on the part of husband. Such an obligation can be met from the properties of the husband out of joint properties. The properties shown exclusively in the name of parents cannot be subject matter of any attachment or enforcement of any right of maintenance.”
The High Court dismissed the petition and observed that in statutes like the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, the maintenance of wife is the personal obligation of the husband and cannot be satisfied from the self-acquired property of the parents of the husband.
