What most people still call "Section 125 maintenance" is now governed by Section 144 of the BNSS — the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, which replaced the CrPC with effect from 1 July 2024. The substance of the remedy is unchanged: it remains one of the fastest, most effective, and most accessible financial protections in Indian family law, and every eligible person in Kanpur should know how to use it.

Section 144 BNSS is a summary remedy before the Judicial Magistrate First Class — not the Family Court, which is an important distinction. It is available to a wife (including a divorced wife who has not remarried), minor children, adult children with physical or mental disabilities, and parents who are unable to maintain themselves. The defining feature is speed: you do not have to wait for a divorce decree, a Family Court order, or even the filing of a divorce petition. The moment your spouse neglects or refuses to maintain you despite having sufficient means, you can approach the Magistrate in Kanpur for maintenance. Interim maintenance is routinely ordered within weeks of filing, long before the main application is decided, under the Supreme Court's guidelines in Rajnesh v. Neha, which require both parties to file an affidavit of assets, income, and liabilities at the outset.

The remedy works independently of and in addition to maintenance under Section 24 of the Hindu Marriage Act (which runs in the Family Court during divorce proceedings) and compensation under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act. Using all three together — each forum providing a different stream of relief at different speeds — is the strategic approach your counsel should plan from the beginning. In Kanpur, where cases before the Family Court can have significant pendency, the Magistrate-level Section 144 BNSS remedy often provides the fastest interim financial protection. The family law practitioners and retired judges available through the Kanpur panel at Aapka Legal Advice can structure these parallel filings so they reinforce each other.

One enforcement point worth knowing: if your spouse defaults on a maintenance order, the Magistrate can issue a warrant for their arrest and attach their property. This is a real and frequently used enforcement tool in Kanpur's Magistrate courts, and it gives Section 144 BNSS orders genuine teeth.