Question

Which provision of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), 1973, provides a summary legal remedy for the maintenance of spouses, children, and parents who are unable to support themselves?

• A. Section 125
• B. Section 320
• C. Section 144
• D. Section 107

Hint:

Whenever maintenance of wife, children, or parents is asked in objective examinations, immediately associate it with Section 125 CrPC. It is one of the most frequently tested provisions in family and criminal procedure law.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is A

Concept: Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 is one of the most important social justice provisions in Indian procedural law. The objective of this section is not to punish a person but to prevent destitution, starvation, and vagrancy among those who are legally entitled to maintenance. It provides a quick, inexpensive, and summary remedy to wives, children, and parents who are unable to maintain themselves and have been neglected by a person having sufficient means.

Step 1: Understanding the purpose of Section 125 CrPC.
The legislature enacted Section 125 as a welfare provision to ensure that close family members do not suffer due to neglect or refusal by a person who has a legal obligation to support them. The section applies irrespective of religion and operates as a secular remedy available to all citizens.

Step 2: Who can claim maintenance?
The following persons may seek maintenance under Section 125:

• Wife who is unable to maintain herself.

• Legitimate or illegitimate minor child.

• Major child suffering from physical or mental abnormality.

• Father or mother who is unable to maintain themselves.
If the person against whom maintenance is sought possesses sufficient means but neglects or refuses to maintain such dependents, the Magistrate may order payment of maintenance.

Step 3: Examining the options.

• Section 125 -- Deals specifically with maintenance.

Correct.

• Section 320 -- Relates to compounding of offences.

Incorrect.

• Section 144 -- Concerns urgent cases of nuisance or apprehended danger.

Incorrect.

• Section 107 -- Relates to security for keeping peace.

Incorrect.
Therefore, the correct answer is

Section 125.

Section 125 CrPC is a social welfare provision intended to prevent destitution and provide speedy maintenance to dependents.

Answer 2

The question asks for the specific provision of the CrPC, 1973 that provides a summary remedy for maintenance to spouses, children, and parents unable to support themselves, and each of the four cited sections deals with a different subject matter that can be checked directly.

1. Section 125: this is the provision that empowers a Magistrate to order maintenance for a wife unable to maintain herself, a minor or disabled child, or a parent unable to maintain themselves, whenever the person liable to maintain them has sufficient means but neglects or refuses to do so. It is designed as a speedy, inexpensive, secular remedy against destitution, matching the question exactly.
2. Section 320: this section deals with the compounding of offences, listing which criminal offences may be settled between the parties with or without the court's permission, a subject entirely unrelated to maintenance.
3. Section 144: this section empowers a Magistrate to make urgent orders in cases of apprehended nuisance or danger to public peace and tranquillity, again a different subject from family maintenance.
4. Section 107: this section deals with taking security from a person likely to commit a breach of the peace, a preventive measure concerned with public order rather than with supporting dependents.

Since only Section 125 addresses maintenance for spouses, children, and parents through a summary procedure, it is the provision the question describes, while the other three sections govern entirely different subjects.

Therefore, the correct answer is Section 125.