The Gwalior Bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court has reiterated that, under Muslim law, a father-in-law is not required to provide financial support to his deceased son's widow.
In doing so, the High Court set aside the orders of the trial court and sessions courts, which had directed the petitioner, the father-in-law, to pay monthly maintenance to his daughter-in-law after the demise of his son.Justice Hirdesh was hearing a petition challenging the order of the courts. The petitioner, Bashir Khan, had sought relief, citing provisions of personal law.
The petitioner had stated that he was aggrieved by the order of the trial and sessions courts, as the award of Rs 3,000 per month in maintenance was in contravention of provisions under Muslim personal law.
The respondent, Ishrat Bano, was married to Khan's son, Sharif, who passed away in 2015, leaving behind two young daughters. She had earlier sought maintenance of Rs 40,000 per month from her father-in-law to meet her everyday expenses.
