An order made in favour of a wife for maintenance under Section 144 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha…

Under Sections 144(5) and 146(2)–(3) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (formerly Sections 125(5) and 127(2)–(3) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973), a maintenance order in favour of a wife is not cancelled merely because she has obtained a divorce by mutual consent. Under Explanation (b) to Section 144(1), 'wife' includes a divorced woman who has not remarried, and divorce by mutual consent ends the marriage rather than amounting to spouses living separately by mutual consent during subsistence of marriage; cancellation under Section 146(3) arises only upon remarriage, receipt of the whole sum payable on divorce under customary or personal law, or voluntary surrender of maintenance rights.