Back in August 2025, an elderly couple filed a complaint against their daughter-in-law, alleging that she refused to support and maintain them.
The plea stated that the parents were old, illiterate, indigent, and wholly dependent on their deceased son during his lifetime.
They argued that their daughter-in-law, who is employed as a constable in the Uttar Pradesh Police, has sufficient independent income and has also received all the service and retirement benefits of their deceased son.
Lastly, the petitioners contended that the daughter-in-law’s moral obligation to maintain her aged parents-in-law should be treated as a legal obligation.
However, the court recently rejected this contention. It noted that there was nothing on record to indicate that the daughter-in-law’s police employment was secured on compassionate grounds.
The Allahabad High Court observed that a daughter-in-law is not legally obligated to maintain her parents-in-law under Section 125 of the CrPC or Section 144 of the BNSS.
Observing that the right to claim maintenance under Section 144 BNSS is a statutory right, confined only to the categories of persons expressly mentioned, a bench of Justice Madan Pal Singh noted that parents-in-law do not fall within its ambit.
The court also stressed that a moral obligation, however compelling it may seem, cannot be enforced as a legal obligation in the absence of a statutory provision.
In a society like India’s, it is often expected that when a woman gets married and enters a household as a daughter-in-law, she will automatically take care of her husband’s parents, sometimes even prioritising them over her own.
The court’s decision may seem harsh to those who believe it is a daughter-in-law’s duty to care for her in-laws, especially after her husband’s passing, as in this case. However, this expectation is largely a moral one and should not be confused with a legal obligation under any circumstance.
