Can a Brother in law pay maintenance under the Domestic Violence act ?

In the case of Ajay kumar vs Lata Sharuti, the husband and the brother in law were engaged in a business where they held ancestral joint hindu property and carried on the business of Kiryana store. The wife and the husband resided in the same house on the ground floor.

On the death of the husband, the wife and her child, born out the wedlock were not permitted to reside in the matrimonial house. Being aggrieved, the wife applied for maintenance under the section 20 of the Domestic violence Act.

The maintenance was confirmed by the High Court and was upheld by the Supreme Court. Section 2 (q) of the domestic violence act expressly provides that the term respondent extends to an adult male person who is in a domestic relation with the aggrieved person.

Hence maintenance can be paid by the brother in law under the domestic violence act.

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