The Jharkhand High Court has ruled that a widowed daughter-in-law and her minor children can claim maintenance from her father-in-law and brother-in-law under Sections 19 and 22 of the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956 (HAMA). The Court held that the widow is unable to maintain herself. The in-laws possess unpartitioned coparcenary property, she is entitled to maintenance. A division bench of Justices Sujit Narayan Prasad and Rajesh Kumar dismissed an appeal by the in-laws challenging a family court order. It directed them to pay ₹3,000 per month to the widow and ₹1,000 each to her two children. The Court noted that the widow had been turned out of her matrimonial home and had no source of income. It found that the in-laws continued to hold joint agricultural land, which included her late husband’s share.
The Court rejected the in-laws’ arguments about their inability to pay. They clarified that the widow had met all statutory requirements under HAMA. It affirmed that she could not seek help from her own parents due to their financial condition. Thus, the High Court upheld the family court’s maintenance order.
