Alteration in allowance
Section 127 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 deals with alteration in allowance. On proof of a change in the circumstances of any person, receiving, under section 125 a monthly allowance, or ordered under the same section to pay a monthly allowance to his wife, child, father or mother, as case may be, the Magistrate may make such alteration in the allowance he thinks fit : Provi The Act came into force on 01 Apr 1974. Repealed by section 531 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (46 of 2023) with effect from 1 July 2024, but conduct before that date is still charged, tried and appealed under it.
(1) On proof of a change in the circumstances of any person, receiving, under section 125 a monthly allowance, or ordered under the same section to pay a monthly allowance to his wife, child, father or mother, as case may be, the Magistrate may make such alteration in the allowance he thinks fit :
Provided that if he increases the allowance, the monthly rate of five hundred rupees in the whole shall not be exceeded.
(2) Where it appears to the Magistrate that, in consequence of any decision of a competent Civil Court, any order made under section 125 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 125 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 by the woman;
(c) the woman has obtained a divorce from her husband and that she had voluntarily surrendered her rights to maintenance 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 has been ordered to be paid under section 125, the Civil Court shall take into account the sum which has been paid to, or recovered by, such person as monthly allowance in pursuance of the said order.
Section 127, The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (Act 2 of 1974).
Now in the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita
BNSS 146 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
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
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
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.
Judgments citing this section
These may be obiter dicta or a precedent, for you to study. These are the judgments where this section is quoted.
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… Section 127 Cr.P.C. also discloses the legislative intendment where the Magistrate is empowered to alter an order passed under Section 125 Cr.P.C. Sub-Section (2) of Section 127 Cr.P.C. also empower the Magistrate to cancel or vary an order under Section 125. The Legislative Scheme as delineated by Sections 125 and 127 Cr.P.C. as noted above clearly enumerated the circumstances and incidents provided in the Code of Criminal Procedure where Court passing a judgment or final order disposing the case can alter or review the same. The embargo as contained in Section 362 is, thus, clearly relaxed in proceeding under Section 125 …
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… ================================ > Crl.M.C.No.6566 of 2022 and O.P(Crl).No.549 of 2022 ================================ Dated this the 10th day of January, 2023 O R D E R / J U D G M E N T The legal question emerges in these matters is, whether a Court, which passed an order of maintenance under Section 125 and 127 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, is competent to execute the order against a person, who has been residing in a place outside the jurisdiction of the Court, which passed the order? 2. Crl.M.C.No.6566 of 2022 has been filed under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (hereinafter referred to as Cr.P.C' …
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… ================================ > Crl.M.C.No.6566 of 2022 and O.P(Crl).No.549 of 2022 ================================ Dated this the 10th day of January, 2023 O R D E R / J U D G M E N T The legal question emerges in these matters is, whether a Court, which passed an order of maintenance under Section 125 and 127 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, is competent to execute the order against a person, who has been residing in a place outside the jurisdiction of the Court, which passed the order? 2. Crl.M.C.No.6566 of 2022 has been filed under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (hereinafter referred to as Cr.P.C' …
Questions about Section 127
What have the courts held on Section 127 of the Code of Criminal Procedure?
Sri Sridhar Murthy vs S. Pushpa (02 Jan 2020) is the leading judgment on this section among those set out below: 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 127 of the Code of Criminal Procedure?
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: CRPC 127, section 127 CRPC, section 127 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. 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 127 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, and has it changed?
Its own text turns on section 125 (Order for maintenance of wives, children and parents), so none of them can safely be read on its own. For anything done on or after 1 July 2024 the provision to read is BNSS 146 (Alteration in allowance), which replaced it; conduct before that date is still charged, tried and appealed under this section.
When did Section 127 of the Code of Criminal Procedure come into force?
Section 127 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, cited as CRPC 127, came into force on 01 Apr 1974, having been enacted on 25 Jan 1974. It is no longer in force.
Other sections of this Act
- 320. Compounding of offences1554 words
- 167. Procedure when investigation cannot be completed in twenty four hours1005 words
- 220. Trial for more than one offence962 words
- 360. Order to release on probation of good conduct or after admonition804 words
- 2. Definitions799 words
- 198. Prosecution for offences against marriage774 words
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