Interim Maintenance Under Section 144 BNSS: Asset & Liability Affidavits in Hyderabad Courts

Interim Maintenance Under Section 144 BNSS: Asset & Liability Affidavits in Hyderabad Courts

Last updated: September 2026

If you are seeking or defending Section 144 BNSS maintenance in Hyderabad, the first fight is rarely the final monthly figure. It is the interim order — and the Affidavit of Disclosure of Assets and Liabilities that the Supreme Court made mandatory in Rajnesh v. Neha. Courts in Hyderabad and Medchal-Malkajgiri now expect both sides to file that affidavit early. Incomplete income papers delay relief. False papers invite adverse inference and, in serious cases, perjury scrutiny.

This guide explains who can claim interim maintenance, which Family Court to approach in Hyderabad or Medchal, what the income affidavit must contain, which documents matter, the 60-day statutory target, how overlapping HMA or Domestic Violence Act orders are adjusted, and the mistakes that weaken a case.

What Section 144 BNSS actually covers

Section 144 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 is the current secular maintenance provision. It replaced Section 125 of the old Code of Criminal Procedure for cases instituted after BNSS came into force on 1 July 2024. Pending old Section 125 matters generally continue under the earlier Code, subject to the BNSS transitional clause — confirm the applicable Code from the case number and filing date.

A First Class Magistrate — and, where a Family Court is notified, the Family Court exercising those powers — may order monthly maintenance if a person with sufficient means neglects or refuses to maintain:

• a wife who is unable to maintain herself, including a divorced wife who has not remarried;
• a legitimate or illegitimate child who is unable to maintain itself;
• an adult child (other than a married daughter) who cannot maintain itself because of physical or mental abnormality or injury; or
• a father or mother who is unable to maintain himself or herself.

The proceeding is summary. It is meant to prevent destitution. It does not decide title, partition, or a full matrimonial fault trial. Marriage or parentage is usually tested at a prima facie level. Serious disputes on validity of marriage still belong in the civil or Family Court matrimonial petition.

What interim maintenance means — and why the affidavit matters

The second proviso to Section 144(1) lets the court order interim maintenance and reasonable expenses of the proceeding while the main application is pending. The third proviso says that application should, as far as possible, be decided within sixty days from service of notice on the opposite party.

That sixty-day target is a statutory endeavour, not a guaranteed calendar. In practice, Hyderabad Family Courts often cannot fix a fair figure until both sides file the Rajnesh disclosure affidavits and the supporting bank and tax papers. The Supreme Court in Rajnesh v. Neha, (2021) 2 SCC 324 directed that interim quantum should not be guessed in the dark. Both parties must disclose income, assets, expenditure and liabilities in the standard format annexed to that judgment.

Treat the affidavit as the spine of the interim application. Salary slips, ITRs and bank statements without a sworn disclosure are incomplete. A polished petition without the enclosure-format affidavit is equally incomplete.

Who can apply, and who may be refused

Claimants

Wives (including divorced wives who have not remarried), minor children, qualifying adult children, and parents may apply. The claimant must show inability to maintain herself or himself at a reasonable standard linked to the parties’ station in life — not absolute beggary. Chaturbhuj v. Sita Bai, (2008) 2 SCC 316 and Bhuwan Mohan Singh v. Meena, (2015) 6 SCC 353 treat maintenance as a measure of social justice.

A working wife is not automatically barred. Courts look at disparity of income, child-care burden and the pre-separation standard of living. Sunita Kachwaha v. Anil Kachwaha, (2014) 16 SCC 715 is often cited for the point that some earning by the wife does not wipe out the claim.

Statutory bars for a wife

Section 144(4) disentitles a wife from maintenance or interim maintenance if she is living in adultery, if she refuses to live with her husband without sufficient reason, or if the spouses live separately by mutual consent. Section 144(5) permits cancellation of an existing order on the same proofs. A second marriage or keeping a mistress by the husband is treated as a just ground for the wife’s refusal to live with him.

These bars are fact-sensitive. Isolated allegations of adultery are not enough. Mutual-consent separation must be proved, not assumed from a long stay at the parental home.

Where to file in Hyderabad and Medchal

Section 145 BNSS fixes territorial options. Proceedings may be taken in a district where the respondent is, where the respondent or the wife resides, where they last resided together (or, for an illegitimate child, with the mother), or — for a parent’s claim — where the father or mother resides. The wife’s residence is the most used option. Jagdish Jugtawat v. Manju Lata, (2002) 5 SCC 422 supports the applicant’s choice of a competent venue.

Where a Family Court has been established for that area, the Family Court — not a regular Magistrate — ordinarily hears the Section 144 application. Shabana Bano v. Imran Khan, (2010) 1 SCC 666 confirms that the Family Court exercises the Magistrate’s maintenance jurisdiction and the proceeding remains summary.

Practical Hyderabad / Medchal map (verify before filing)

• Hyderabad district matters are commonly filed before the Family Courts sitting at the Integrated Family Court Complex, Kalpataru Building, Purani Haveli, Hyderabad. Confirm the current bench allocation on eCourts.
• Medchal-Malkajgiri child maintenance and wife-maintenance petitions follow the Family Court whose local limits cover the relevant mandal. G.O.Ms.No.85, Law, dated 10 December 2024 redefined Family Courts in that district, including benches associated with Malkajgiri, Medchal, Kukatpally and Serilingampally. The exact mandal-to-bench chart must be verified on the date of filing.
• Quthbullapur and adjoining northern Hyderabad localities often fall in Medchal-Malkajgiri territorial charts rather than the old Hyderabad city Family Court. Do not assume Purani Haveli is the correct bench because the mailing address says Hyderabad.
• If the opposite party lives outside Telangana, you may still file where the wife or child resides, then use Section 147 BNSS to enforce the order where the payer is found.

Wrong-court filing wastes months. Map the present residential address and the last shared matrimonial address against the latest territorial notification before the vakalat is signed.

The Rajnesh v. Neha asset and liability affidavit

Rajnesh is still the governing nationwide template. It applies to Section 144 BNSS, Section 24 of the Hindu Marriage Act, Section 18 of the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, Section 20 of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, and Section 36 of the Special Marriage Act.

What the affidavit must cover

The Supreme Court annexed separate formats. Enclosure I is the usual format for non-agrarian parties in Hyderabad city and Medchal urban mandals. Enclosure II is for agrarian deponents. Enclosure III is used where the court so directs. In substance, the deponent must swear to:

• personal particulars, qualifications and present residence (matrimonial home, parental home or separate house);
• employment, employer, designation and nature of work, including business or professional practice;
• income from salary, business, rent, agriculture, shares, interest and any other source, with salary slips, ITRs and bank statements typically for the last three years;
• monthly expenditure — rent or EMI, school fees, medical costs, domestic help, utilities, travel and litigation expenses;
• movable and immovable assets, including self-acquired property, ancestral or joint property, vehicles, deposits, jewellery, insurance and investments;
• liabilities — housing loans, personal loans, credit cards, guarantees and current EMIs;
• details of dependants and of any other maintenance proceeding or order.

The closing declaration is that the disclosure is full and that there are no other assets, income, expenditure or liabilities. That sentence is what makes a false affidavit dangerous.

Filing sequence and time limits under Rajnesh

1. The applicant files a concise maintenance petition together with the disclosure affidavit.
2. The respondent must file the reply and the respondent’s affidavit within a maximum of four weeks.
3. The court should not grant more than two opportunities for that affidavit.
4. Wilful delay can lead to the defence being struck off. If the respondent still fails, the court may decide the claim on the applicant’s affidavit and the record.
5. If the contents are disputed, the aggrieved party may seek leave to serve interrogatories or call for further documents.
6. After both affidavits are on record, the court must endeavour to decide the interim application by a reasoned order within four to six months.

The statutory sixty-day clock in Section 144 and the four-to-six-month Rajnesh window sit together. Use the sixty-day provision to press for listing. Do not treat either timeline as automatic.

Documents that actually move an interim order

Courts in Hyderabad give weight to papers that can be tested against the affidavit, not to rounded estimates in the petition. Keep a paginated annexure index.

For the applicant

• Marriage proof — certificate, invitation, photographs, or other contemporaneous proof. For children, birth certificate and school records.
• Proof of residence for jurisdiction — Aadhaar, rental deed, electricity bill, or society letter.
• Rajnesh affidavit in the correct enclosure format, duly notarised or sworn as the local Family Court requires.
• Own income proof, if any — salary slips, ITR, bank statements. Hiding a small salary is worse than disclosing it.
• Monthly expense proof — rent receipts, school-fee receipts, medical bills, creche or helper payments.
• Material on the respondent’s means — employer identity, Form 16 if available, company master data, property extract from Dharani / registration search, vehicle RC.
• Orders and pleadings from any parallel HMA, HAMA or Domestic Violence Act case. Non-disclosure of an existing order is a Rajnesh breach.

For the respondent

• Complete Rajnesh affidavit — not a one-page note stating a round monthly figure.
• Last three years’ ITR, Form 16 / Form 26AS, salary account and other bank accounts.
• Loan account statements if EMIs are relied on to reduce capacity.
• Proof of amounts already paid — UPI, NEFT, school-fee receipts, rent paid for the wife or child.
• If a statutory bar is pleaded — evidence of a living-in adulterous relationship, a written separation agreement, or proof of an unconditional offer to maintain on resuming cohabitation, as the facts permit.

Lifestyle evidence helps only when tied to a bank credit, asset or known business. Bare screenshots without a source of funds rarely fix quantum.

How Hyderabad courts usually fix the interim figure

There is no fixed percentage in the BNSS. Kalyan Dey Chowdhury v. Rita Dey Chowdhury, (2017) 14 SCC 200 is often read as illustrating a balanced split of disposable income in that case — it is not a rigid 25 percent rule for every Hyderabad file. Courts look at:

• status of the parties and the standard of living during cohabitation;
• reasonable needs of the wife and child, including education and medical costs;
• the claimant’s own income and realistic earning capacity — not a theoretical job she does not have while caring for a toddler;
• the payer’s proven income plus assets that generate or can generate income;
• existing EMIs and dependants, if they are genuine and documented;
• amounts already being paid under another statute, which must be set off.

Child maintenance is assessed separately from the wife’s personal claim. School fees and documented medical costs are often directed to be paid in addition to a monthly allowance, or built into a composite figure. Say so clearly in the prayer.

Section 144(2) says the allowance is payable from the date of the order, or, if the court so directs, from the date of the application. Rajnesh held that the default across maintenance statutes should be the date of the application, because delay in the court is not the claimant’s fault. Ask for that date in the prayer. If the court starts from the order date, record the reason.

Step-by-step procedure in a Hyderabad or Medchal Family Court

1. Confirm the correct Family Court bench from the present address and the latest territorial G.O. / eCourts chart.
2. Draft a concise petition: relationship, neglect or refusal, inability to maintain, respondent’s means, monthly needs, other pending cases, and a split prayer for wife and child.
3. Annex the Rajnesh affidavit and the document index. File the supporting affidavit verifying the petition.
4. Pay the nominal court fee applicable to a maintenance application in that court (verify the current schedule; it is not an ad valorem civil-suit fee).
5. On numbering, press for notice and, where hardship is acute, for a short-date listing of the interim prayer.
6. Serve notice. The sixty-day endeavour runs from service, not from filing.
7. If the respondent delays the affidavit beyond two opportunities, apply for closure of defence or for an order on the applicant’s papers.
8. Argue interim maintenance on the two affidavits, bank statements and ITRs. Ask for a reasoned order and for payment into a specified bank account.
9. On default, apply under Section 144(3) to levy the arrears as a fine and, if needed, for coercive imprisonment of up to one month for each month’s unpaid allowance, or until payment. The levy application must be made within one year from the date the amount became due.
10. Use Section 147 BNSS if the payer has moved to another district. Use Section 146 BNSS later if income, custody or remarriage changes the picture.

Overlapping claims: HMA, HAMA and the Domestic Violence Act

A Hindu wife in Hyderabad may have a Section 144 BNSS case, a Section 24 HMA application in a pending divorce OP, and a Section 20 monetary-relief claim under the Domestic Violence Act. Rajnesh does not bar parallel remedies. It bars double recovery.

Disclose every earlier proceeding and order in the new affidavit. The later court must adjust or set off what is already payable. If an order needs variation, apply in the same proceeding that passed it — do not start a third case only to rewrite the first order.

Enforcement, alteration and challenge

Unpaid interim maintenance is recoverable under Section 144(3). The court may issue a warrant to levy the amount in the manner provided for fines and may sentence the defaulter to imprisonment up to one month for each month’s unpaid sum, or until payment, whichever is earlier. Imprisonment does not wipe the arrears.

Section 146 BNSS allows alteration on proof of a change in circumstances — job loss, a substantial rise in income, the child moving to the other parent, or a civil-court decree that must be given effect. Remarriage of a divorced wife leads to cancellation from the date of remarriage. A lump-sum received under personal or customary law, or a voluntary surrender of maintenance after divorce, can also cancel the order on the statutory conditions.

An interim order is not the last word. It can be modified at final disposal under Section 146 BNSS if circumstances change. Challenge of an interim maintenance order is usually attempted by criminal revision under Section 438 BNSS before the Sessions Court or the Telangana High Court. Section 438(2) bars revision of interlocutory orders. Whether a particular interim maintenance order is treated as interlocutory is fact- and forum-sensitive — verify maintainability before filing. A writ under Article 226 is exceptional and is not a substitute for the statutory route where facts are disputed.

Common mistakes in Hyderabad practice

• Filing without the Rajnesh enclosure-format affidavit and hoping the court will see the petition.
• Inflating the respondent’s income with no document trail, or suppressing the applicant’s own salary.
• Omitting a parallel DV Act or HMA maintenance order, which later collapses credibility.
• Praying for one composite figure for wife and two school-going children without a breakup.
• Waiting more than a year to levy monthly arrears.
• Filing in the Hyderabad Family Court when the residence and last cohabitation both sit in a Medchal-Malkajgiri mandal allotted to another bench — or the reverse.
• Using a stop-gap income memo instead of three years of bank statements when the payer runs a cash-heavy business.
• Assuming an earning wife cannot claim, or that an unemployed husband with assets has no means.

When to consult an advocate

Consult before the first affidavit is sworn. Once a false or thin affidavit is on the record, every later explanation looks like an afterthought. You need counsel if the opposite party is a business owner with layered companies, if there is already a DV Act monetary order, if the child has special-education costs, if you face a Section 144(4) adultery or mutual-consent defence, or if a levy warrant has already issued on arrears.

Checklist before filing

• Confirm BNSS Section 144 (new filing) versus old CrPC Section 125 (pending pre-1 July 2024 case).
• Map residence to the correct Family Court in Hyderabad or Medchal-Malkajgiri.
• Draft a concise petition plus Rajnesh Enclosure I / II affidavit.
• Annex three years’ bank statements and ITRs wherever they exist.
• Disclose every parallel maintenance proceeding and quantify amounts already paid.
• Split the prayer: wife, each child, school fees, medical costs, litigation expenses.
• Ask for payment from the date of application and into a named account.
• Diary the sixty-day interim target from service of notice.
• If the opposite affidavit is late, apply after two opportunities for closure or an order on your papers.
• Levy arrears within one year of each month becoming due.
• Keep proof of every payment — it is the only clean set-off at final hearing.

Conclusion

Interim maintenance under Section 144 BNSS in Hyderabad turns on three things: the correct Family Court, a complete Rajnesh asset-and-liability affidavit, and documents that match that affidavit. The statute gives a sixty-day endeavour after notice. The Supreme Court gives a disclosure-first method and a default start date from the application. Neither helps a party who files in the wrong Medchal bench, inflates income, or forgets to disclose an existing DV Act order.

Prepare the enclosure-format affidavit before the first listing. That single step decides more interim orders than a long legal argument.

Disclaimer

This article is for general public information. It is not legal advice and does not create an advocate-client relationship. Maintenance quantum, territorial jurisdiction, transitional application of BNSS versus the old CrPC, Family Court bench allocation in Hyderabad and Medchal-Malkajgiri, court-fee schedules and revision maintainability depend on the facts and on the law as it stands on the date of filing. Have the current eCourts territorial chart, the live G.O. for Medchal Family Courts, and the maintainability of a Section 438 BNSS revision against the particular interim order verified by the advocate on the brief before any petition or affidavit is sworn.

Related reading

• Child Custody and Visitation Disputes — Practical Principles in Telangana Family Courts
• Domestic Violence Act Proceedings — Interim Relief in Medchal Magistrate Courts
• Contested Divorce Telangana — Grounds, Jurisdiction, Medchal-Malkajgiri Family Court
• Transfer Petitions in Matrimonial Disputes — Telangana High Court
• Document Evidence in India: Originals, Certified Copies & Digital Signatures
• Vakalatnama in Telangana: Signing Rights, Stamp Duty & Revocation
• Injunction to Prevent Dispossession — Interim Application in Hyderabad Courts

Need an interim maintenance application or a defence affidavit drafted for a Hyderabad or Medchal Family Court? Share the petition draft, three years of bank statements and any existing DV Act or HMA order. We will map the correct bench, complete the Rajnesh enclosure-format affidavit, and file a focused interim prayer — or a structured reply that puts actual income and prior payments on the record.