Child Maintenance Laws in India: A closer analysis

Childhood care and support plays a very essential role in the growth of the child. The future potency of the child depends upon their early age maintenance and care. It is the duty of each parent to provide the best that they might for the development of their child. This responsibility of the parents is very well acknowledged by the Indian laws as well as the Indian judiciary. There are a number of provisions under statutes governing various personal laws where right of maintenance has been granted to the child. This paper tries to do a closer analysis of various child maintenance laws in India. In order to do so, the paper tries to focus on different personal laws as well as secular law that govern maintenance of a child in India. While highlighting the various personal laws, the paper tries to do a detail analysis of Hindu and Muslim personal law. The detailed analysis of Hindu and Muslim personal laws is done by examining the conflict between various laws and provisions through judicial precedents. Further the paper also tries to highlight the grey areas in these laws and finally attempts to show if there is a need for uniform civil code in India.