KAMAT, J.: - The concept of maintenance had a long travel, from the days when Sir Henry Mayne described Hindu marriage or relationship between a man and a woman with one end absolutely loose. This has to be abreast with the changing needs and situation. What was anachronistic became suitable to application of the demands of the changing needs. Maintenance for judicial purposes has its own pragmatics having relation to the need and necessity to make provisions for securing reasonable bio-economic as well as biocultural requirements for persons such as shelter, food, garment and health. The need to provide reliefs of maintenance emanate from social ethics and personal economics and this need is sought for both on the moral and secular grounds. Maintenance is a personal obligation and where there is estate, the rights in maintenance could be worked against the estate and there can be charge upon it. It is said in the context of the position of a woman that the social ethics is heavily overloaded against them on counts more than one. Courts have projected considerations relating to the legal right of maintenance, taking into consideration the above aspects, even to the extent