Alteration in allowance
Section 146 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 deals with alteration in allowance. On proof of a change in the circumstances of any person, receiving, under section 144 a monthly allowance for the maintenance or interim maintenance, or ordered under the same section to pay a monthly allowance for the maintenance, or interim maintenance, to his wife, child, father or mother, as the The Act came into force on 01 Jul 2024.
(1) On proof of a change in the circumstances of any person, receiving, under section 144 a monthly allowance for the maintenance or interim maintenance, or ordered under the same section to pay a monthly allowance for the maintenance, or interim maintenance, to his wife, child, father or mother, as the case may be, the Magistrate may make such alteration, as he thinks fit, in the allowance for the maintenance or the interim maintenance, as the case may be.
(2) Where it appears to the Magistrate that in consequence of any decision of a competent Civil Court, any order made under section 144 should be cancelled or varied, he shall cancel the order or, as the case may be, vary the same accordingly.
(3) Where any order has been made under section 144 in favour of a woman who has been divorced by, or has obtained a divorce from, her husband, the Magistrate shall, if he is satisfied that—
(a) the woman has, after the date of such divorce, remarried, cancel such order as from the date of her remarriage;
(b) the woman has been divorced by her husband and that she has received, whether before or after the date of the said order, the whole of the sum which, under any customary or personal law applicable to the parties, was payable on such divorce, cancel such order,—
(i) in the case where such sum was paid before such order, from the date on which such order was made;
(ii) in any other case, from the date of expiry of the period, if any, for which maintenance has been actually paid by the husband to the woman;
(c) the woman has obtained a divorce from her husband and that she had voluntarily surrendered her rights to maintenance or interim maintenance, as the case may be, after her divorce, cancel the order from the date thereof.
(4) At the time of making any decree for the recovery of any maintenance or dowry by any person, to whom a monthly allowance for the maintenance and interim maintenance or any of them has been ordered to be paid under section 144, the Civil Court shall take into account the sum which has been paid to, or recovered by, such person as monthly allowance for the maintenance and interim maintenance or any of them, as the case may be, in pursuance of the said order.
Section 146, The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (Act 46 of 2023).
Replaces a provision of the Code of Criminal Procedure
CRPC 127 Alteration in allowance Text carried over almost unchanged 94%
Measured by comparing the text of the two provisions, not taken from an official correspondence table — there is no machine-readable one. See both texts side by side before relying on it.
Both regimes are live. The repealed enactment still governs what happened while it was in force. We never redirect one to the other.
Cross-references
Extracted from the operative text of the enactments themselves. Every destination below exists in our corpus.
This section refers to
Related judgements & precedents
These are some judgments that construed this section, and hold precedence value. They hold authority on how to read, interpret and use this section.
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Sri Sridhar Murthy vs S. Pushpa
Decided under Code of Criminal Procedure 127, which this section replaces. The court did not have this Act before it.
Court's Decision & Legal Precedent
When an application for modification of maintenance under Section 127 Cr.P.C. is pending before the Family Court, the appropriate remedy is not to quash the warrant for recovery of the original maintenance amount, but to direct the Family Court to expeditiously consider and decide the modification application within a specified timeframe, while maintaining an interim maintenance order that balances the interests of both the maintenance payer and the maintenance claimant.
On this section: Power to modify orders for maintenance of wife, children, and parents; application filed by petitioner to reduce maintenance amount
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Kunti Kamlesh& ORS. vs C.r.kamlesh
Decided under Code of Criminal Procedure 127, which this section replaces. The court did not have this Act before it.
Court's Decision & Legal Precedent
Maintenance enhancement under Section 127 CrPC must be just and fair, balancing the income of the husband, the specific medical/educational needs of the dependents, and existing benefits like housing.
On this section: Provision for alteration in maintenance allowance based on change in circumstances.
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Rashbihari Dhal vs Thakuri Dhal
Decided under Code of Criminal Procedure 127, which this section replaces. The court did not have this Act before it.
Court's Decision & Legal Precedent
When a petitioner in a maintenance revision petition dies during the pendency of the case, the revision petition becomes infructuous and should be dismissed, as the court can no longer grant effective relief to the deceased petitioner and the subject matter of the litigation ceases to exist in its original form.
On this section: Section 127 Cr.P.C. provides for modification of maintenance orders. The Family Court exercised this power to enhance maintenance from an unspecified amount to Rs. 1,000 per month. The revision petition challenged this enhancement.
The holding above is the ratio decidendi as extracted from the judgment by eCourts India, reproduced unaltered — it is a rendering of the court's reasoning, not a substitute for its words. Read the order itself before relying on it.
Questions about Section 146
What have the courts held on Section 146 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita?
Sri Sridhar Murthy vs S. Pushpa (02 Jan 2020) is the leading judgment on this section among those set out below, though it was decided under CRPC 127, which this section replaced -- the court never mentioned this Act: Power to modify orders for maintenance of wife, children, and parents; application filed by petitioner to reduce maintenance amount. Another 2 judgments on this section are set out below. They run from 2015 to 2023.
How do I find court cases under Section 146 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita?
In judgments and charge sheets this section is written several ways, and each form finds a different set of orders. These search the full text of every order eCourtsIndia holds, best matches first: BNSS 146, section 146 BNSS, section 146 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita. People searching for it also type bnss 146 3 and 146 bnss in crpc. Each opens the full list of orders on eCourtsIndia, where it can be narrowed by court, year and outcome. 3 reported judgments on this section are set out on this page, beginning with Sri Sridhar Murthy vs S. Pushpa (02 Jan 2020).
What should I read with Section 146 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, and has it changed?
Its own text turns on section 144 (Order for maintenance of wives, children and parents), so none of them can safely be read on its own. It carries forward CrPC 127 (Alteration in allowance), so the judgments decided under that provision are the case law on this one.
When did Section 146 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita come into force?
Section 146 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, cited as BNSS 146, came into force on 01 Jul 2024, having been enacted on 25 Dec 2023. It is in force as at the date shown on this page.
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Source and method. Compiled from the enactments of Parliament and of the State legislatures as published on India Code, and republished together with commentary and other original matter under section 52(1)(q)(ii) of the Copyright Act, 1957. Structured, cross-referenced and maintained by eCourtsIndia. Text as in force on 15 Oct 2026. This page is not a substitute for legal advice.