Maintenance Application under Section 144 BNSS (Old Section 125 CrPC): Format, Interim Maintenance and Documents (2026)

She comes to your chamber with a child and a plastic folder of papers. Her husband stopped sending money eight months ago. She has been living at her parents' house since. She doesn't want a long divorce fight right now. She wants money for rent, school fees and food, and she wants it soon.

For most advocates in district practice, that is a "125 case", or "kharcha pani ka case". Since 1 July 2024, it is filed under Section 144 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS). The substance is almost the same as the old Section 125 CrPC. The section number has changed, there is one new place where you can file, and the Supreme Court's Rajnesh v. Neha affidavit is still mandatory.

This guide gives you a ready-to-adapt petition, an interim maintenance application, the documents to collect, where to file, and how courts fix the amount.

Old and new sections at a glance

For every other renumbered provision, see our CrPC to BNSS conversion table. A word of warning: Section 144 of the old CrPC was prohibitory orders. That is now Section 163 BNSS. Do not mix them up in the caption.

Who can claim maintenance under Section 144 BNSS

The claim is against a person who has sufficient means and neglects or refuses to maintain:

"Unable to maintain herself" does not mean destitute. The Supreme Court in Chaturbhuj v. Sita Bai (2008) said the test is whether she can maintain herself in the way she lived with her husband. A small or irregular income does not defeat the claim by itself.

Divorced Muslim women can also claim. In Mohd. Abdul Samad v. State of Telangana (July 2024), the Supreme Court held that Section 125 CrPC applies to all women, including divorced Muslim women. The remedy under the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986 is in addition to it, not in place of it. The same reasoning carries over to Section 144 BNSS.

When a wife is not entitled (Section 144(4)): if she is living in adultery, refuses to live with her husband without sufficient reason, or they live separately by mutual consent. Expect the husband's side to plead one of these. Prepare the facts that show why she had to leave: cruelty, a demand for dowry, the husband keeping another woman, or being thrown out of the matrimonial home.

Where to file: Section 145 BNSS

Under Section 145(1), you can file in any district:

1. where the respondent is,
2. where the respondent or his wife resides,
3. where he last resided with his wife (or with the mother of the illegitimate child), or
4. new under the BNSS: where his father or mother resides.

Which court: a Judicial Magistrate of the First Class. Where a Family Court has been set up, it hears maintenance claims for that area under the Family Courts Act, 1984. In most district headquarters of UP, MP, Rajasthan and Bihar, that means the Family Court (परिवार न्यायालय).

Most wives file where they now live, usually at their parents' house. That is allowed under clause (b), and it is usually the most practical choice for her.

Documents to collect at the first meeting

Many of these papers come as phone photos, some in Hindi. Keep the originals unchanged and make a typed copy for the court file. A tool like Hindi legal document OCR saves you the retyping.

The Rajnesh v. Neha affidavit: don't skip it

In Rajnesh v. Neha (2020), the Supreme Court made it mandatory for both parties to file an affidavit of disclosure of assets and liabilities in all maintenance proceedings, including those under Section 125 CrPC, before Family Courts, District Courts and Magistrates. The format is annexed to the judgment.

The same judgment also says:

• From when: maintenance is to be awarded from the date of the application.
• Overlapping claims: where a wife claims under more than one law (Section 144 BNSS, the DV Act, the Hindu Marriage Act or the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act), she must disclose the earlier proceedings and orders. The later court takes the earlier award into account and adjusts or sets it off.
• Factors for the amount: the status of the parties, reasonable needs of the wife and children, her own income, the husband's income and liabilities, the standard of living in the matrimonial home, and inflation.

High Courts keep sending back maintenance orders passed without these affidavits. In 2025, the Orissa High Court remanded such a case and noted that the Family Court had not complied with the guidelines. File your client's affidavit with the petition, and ask the court to direct the respondent to file his.

Maintenance application format under Section 144 BNSS

Adapt this to your court's practice. Use the court's own title format, the client's real facts and the actual figures.

IN THE COURT OF THE PRINCIPAL JUDGE, FAMILY COURT, [DISTRICT]
(or: IN THE COURT OF THE JUDICIAL MAGISTRATE FIRST CLASS, [PLACE])

Maintenance Case No. ______ of 2026

1. [Name of wife], aged __ years, W/o [husband], R/o [address]
2. [Name of minor child], aged __ years, through mother and natural guardian, applicant no. 1

...Applicants

Versus

[Name of husband], aged __ years, S/o [father], R/o [address]

...Respondent

APPLICATION UNDER SECTION 144 OF THE BHARATIYA NAGARIK SURAKSHA SANHITA, 2023 FOR GRANT OF MAINTENANCE

The applicants most respectfully submit:

1. That applicant no. 1 was married to the respondent on [date] at [place] according to [Hindu / Muslim / other] rites. Applicant no. 2 was born of the wedlock on [date].
2. That after the marriage, applicant no. 1 lived with the respondent at [address]. [Brief facts of cruelty, dowry demand or ill-treatment, with dates.]
3. That on [date], the respondent [turned applicant no. 1 out of the matrimonial home / forced her to leave]. Since then, she has been living with her parents at [address] along with applicant no. 2.
4. That since [date], the respondent has neglected and refused to maintain the applicants, despite requests made on [dates].
5. That applicant no. 1 has no independent source of income [or: earns only ₹____ per month from ____, which is not sufficient to maintain herself and the child]. She is unable to maintain herself and applicant no. 2.
6. That the respondent is [employed as ____ with ____ / runs a business of ____], earns about ₹____ per month, and owns [property, vehicle, agricultural land]. He has sufficient means.
7. That the reasonable monthly expenses of the applicants are about ₹____ (rent ₹____, food ₹____, school fees ₹____, medical ₹____, other ₹____).
8. That this Hon'ble Court has jurisdiction under Section 145(1) BNSS, as applicant no. 1 resides at [address] within its jurisdiction.
9. That [no other proceeding for maintenance has been filed / the following proceedings are pending or decided: ____]. Details are disclosed in the affidavit of assets and liabilities filed with this application, as required by Rajnesh v. Neha (2020).

PRAYER

It is therefore most respectfully prayed that this Hon'ble Court may be pleased to:

(a) direct the respondent to pay ₹____ per month to applicant no. 1 and ₹____ per month to applicant no. 2 as maintenance, from the date of this application;
(b) award the cost of these proceedings; and
(c) pass any other order deemed fit in the interest of justice.

Applicants, through Counsel
[Name, enrolment number]

VERIFICATION: Verified at [place] on [date] that the contents of paragraphs 1 to 9 are true to my knowledge and belief.

Applicant No. 1

File with it: the affidavit of assets and liabilities in the Rajnesh format, the documents listed above, a vakalatnama (format), and the interim maintenance application below.

Interim maintenance application

The main petition can take months or years. Interim maintenance is what pays the rent in the meantime. Under the provisos to Section 144(1), the court can order a monthly allowance and the expenses of the proceeding while the case is pending. An application for interim maintenance should be disposed of within 60 days of service of notice on the respondent, as far as possible.

APPLICATION FOR INTERIM MAINTENANCE AND EXPENSES OF PROCEEDING UNDER THE PROVISOS TO SECTION 144(1) BNSS

1. That the applicants have filed the accompanying application under Section 144 BNSS, the contents of which may be read as part of this application.
2. That applicant no. 1 has no means to pay rent, school fees and daily expenses, or to pay for these proceedings, while the case is pending.
3. That the respondent has sufficient means, as set out in paragraph 6 of the main application and the affidavit filed with it.

PRAYER: Direct the respondent to pay ₹____ per month as interim maintenance and ₹____ as expenses of the proceeding, from the date of the application, until the final disposal of the case.

Ask the court to fix a short date for the respondent's reply, and point to the 60-day target if the matter is adjourned again and again.

If the order is not paid: enforcement

Unpaid maintenance is common. Under Section 144(3):

• For every breach of the order, the court can issue a warrant to levy the amount as a fine is levied, and can sentence the defaulter to imprisonment for up to one month for each month's unpaid allowance, or until payment is made if sooner.
• Time limit: the application to recover arrears must be made within one year from the date the amount became due. Don't let arrears pile up beyond a year. File the recovery application every few months.

Enforcement is now under Section 147 BNSS (old Section 128). If the husband's income changes, either side can apply for alteration under Section 146 BNSS (old Section 127).

For the husband's counsel

Most district practices act for both sides. If you act for the husband:

• File his Rajnesh affidavit honestly. Concealment is held against the party who hides income.
• Raise Section 144(4) only if you have facts and evidence for it: living in adultery, refusing to live with him without sufficient reason, or living apart by mutual consent.
• Bring proof of the wife's actual income if she is employed.
• Disclose and seek adjustment of amounts already ordered in other proceedings.
• Offer a reasonable figure early. Courts notice a respondent who pays nothing for months while arguing about the amount.

Section 144 BNSS in Hindi: terms used in family courts

Common mistakes that delay maintenance

1. Captioning the petition "under Section 125 CrPC" for a case filed after 1 July 2024.
2. Filing without the Rajnesh v. Neha affidavit.
3. Not filing the interim maintenance application with the main petition.
4. Vague income claims against the husband ("he earns well") with no documents.
5. Not disclosing an earlier DV Act or Hindu Marriage Act maintenance order.
6. Letting arrears run beyond one year before filing for recovery.
7. Confusing Section 144 BNSS (maintenance) with old Section 144 CrPC (prohibitory orders, now Section 163 BNSS).

Draft the petition in minutes with Juniorlawyer

Your client's papers come in a folder or as WhatsApp photos: a Hindi marriage card, school receipts, a police complaint. Upload them to Juniorlawyer. It reads the documents, including Hindi text, pulls out the dates, names and amounts, and drafts the Section 144 BNSS petition and the interim maintenance application in English or Hindi. You check the facts, edit in Word, and file.

• Get typed text from Hindi documents with Hindi legal document OCR
• Translate papers with the free legal translation tool
• Draft notices before filing with the legal notice format guide

The draft is your starting point. The facts and figures in the final petition are your responsibility.