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INTRODUCTION The Allahabad High Court recently ruled that a daughter-in-law has no legal obligation to maintain her parents-in-law under maintenance laws. FACTS AND BACKGROUND   An elderly couple (parents of a deceased son, a policeman who died in 2021) filed a petition seeking maintenance from their widowed daughter-in-law. They emphasized a moral obligation on her part. The family court rejected their claim, and the High Court dismissed their criminal revision petition against that order.   OBSERVATIONS OF THE COURT   The right to claim maintenance under Section 144 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita - BNSS (erstwhile Sec 125 CrPC) is a statutory right limited strictly to the categories of persons explicitly mentioned in the provision. Eligible claimants includes: wife, children, and parents (of the person from whom maintenance is sought). Parents-in-law do not fall within this list. The legislature did not intend to impose liability for maintenance on a daughter...

INTRODUCTION In a recent judgment, a division bench of Chhattisgarh High Court quashed an FIR and all related criminal proceedings against the husband in a matrimonial dispute. The court explicitly observed: “Considering that the dispute is purely personal in nature and does not affect public peace or societal interest, and in light of the principles laid down by the Hon’ble Supreme Court with regard to quashing of criminal proceedings arising out of matrimonial disputes on the basis of compromise, further considering that the possibility of conviction is very remote and bleak, this Court is of the view that continuation of the proceedings would be an exercise in futility and would amount to abuse of the process of law.” Background and Facts of the Case The couple got married on 28 December 2021 and lived in Mumbai. The wife (complainant) alleged that her husband indulged in regular mental and physical torture, harassment, and cruelty. Specific allegations included:  Habitual drink...