The Chhattisgarh High Court upheld a Family Court ruling directing a father-in-law to provide maintenance to his widowed daughter-in-law and her minor daughter. The bench affirmed that the statutory obligation applied despite his appeal before the judges today.
A division bench of the Chhattisgarh High Court, headed by Chief Justice Ramesh Sinha and Justice Ravindra Kumar Agrawal, upheld a Family Court order requiring a father-in-law to pay maintenance to his widowed daughter-in-law and her minor daughter.
The bench dismissed the father-in-law’s appeal against the Family Court decision, which had partly allowed the daughter-in-law’s application under Section 19 of the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956, awarding Rs. 1,000 per month to the widow and Rs. 500 per month to her minor daughter from the date the application was filed.
The High Court agreed with the Family Court’s assessment of the evidence and found no reason to disturb the maintenance award.
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The dispute arose after the death of the appellant’s son, who had married Gunja Uike in 2015. Gunja became pregnant during the marriage; her husband died on 10.01.2017 and their daughter was born thereafter.
Gunja’s pleadings alleged that, following her husband’s death, her relationship with her father-in-law deteriorated, she faced harassment, and was eventually forced to leave the matrimonial home with her child.
She stated she had no independent means of livelihood and had to return to her parental home after being expelled from the matrimonial house.
She further claimed that the appellant owned agricultural land and derived substantial income from it, and sought monthly maintenance of Rs. 32,000 for herself and her child under Section 19.
The father-in-law denied these allegations, asserting the marriage was a love marriage and that allegations of harassment or dowry demands were baseless. He claimed the daughter-in-law had left the matrimonial home voluntarily to pursue a compassionate appointment after her husband’s death, and he disputed having ancestral property or the income she alleged.
At the Family Court, the daughter-in-law gave evidence supporting her pleadings, testifying that she and her child had no means of support and relied on her parents; in cross-examination she said her brother sometimes provided groceries and maintained that she had been denied entry to the matrimonial house after her daughter’s birth.
Notably, the father-in-law did not testify, and the High Court observed that the non-examination of a party permits an adverse inference.
The Court cited the Supreme Court’s ruling in Vidyadhar v. Manikrao (1999) 3 SCC 573,
“when a party abstains from entering the witness box to depose on oath, a presumption may arise that the case set up by that party is not correct.”
After reviewing the record, the High Court concluded the Family Court correctly found the father-in-law was obliged to maintain the widowed daughter-in-law and her minor child.
The Court referred to Section 19 of the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956, which provides that a Hindu wife may be maintained by her father-in-law after her husband’s death if she is unable to maintain herself from earnings, property, or from the estate of her husband or children, thereby imposing a legal duty on the father-in-law where the statutory conditions are met.
The bench also noted the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Kanchana Rai v. Geeta Sharma (2026 SCC OnLine SC 59), which confirmed that a widowed daughter-in-law qualifies as a “dependant” under the Act and may claim maintenance when unable to support herself.
Applying these legal principles to the facts, the High Court found the respondent had established that she and her child lacked independent means and that the appellant failed to rebut her claim.
Consequently, the Court upheld the Family Court’s finding of liability and declined to interfere with the maintenance order, dismissing the appeal.
Case Title: Narayan Uike v. Gunja Uike & Anr.
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