Noting it is the “supreme duty” of a Hindu to protect those dependent on him, the Law Commission on Tuesday recommended to the government that the law should be amended entitling a Hindu wife, whose husband is unable to provide for her, to receive maintenance from his family.
A seven-member committee led by the Law Commission of India Chairperson Justice A.P. Shah recommended a clause to be inserted in the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956 to financially protect a Hindu woman, whose husband suffers from physical or mental disability and has no means to maintain herself.
The same applies to wives of those who have disappeared or chosen “renunciation of the world by entering any religious order or other reasons.” The only exception is when the husband has already got his share in the family property on partition.
The committee has handed over its report to Law Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda.
