(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, a Hindu wife, whether married before or after the commencement of this Act, shall be entitled to be maintained by her husband during her life time.

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(2) A Hindu wife shall be entitled to live separately from her husband without forfeiting her claim to maintenance,

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(a) if he is guilty of desertion, that is to say, of abandoning her without reasonable cause and without her consent or against her wish, or of wilfully neglecting her;

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(b) if he has treated her with such cruelty as to cause a reasonable apprehension in her mind that it will be harmful or injurious to live with her husband;

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(d) if he has any other wife living;

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(e) if he keeps a concubine in the same house in which his wife is living or habitually resides with a concubine elsewhere;

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(f) if he has ceased to be a Hindu by conversion to another religion;

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(g) if there is any other cause justifying her living separately.

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(3) A Hindu wife shall not be entitled to separate residence and maintenance from her husband if she is unchaste or ceases to be a Hindu by conversion to another religion.

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1. Clause (c) omitted by Act 6 of 2019, s. 6 (w.e.f. 1-3-2019).

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