 bill no 231 of  2017 the code of criminal procedure (amendment) bill, 2017 by shri jagdambika pal, mp a billfurther to amend the code of criminal procedure, 1973be it enacted by parliament in the sixty-eighth year of the republic of india as follows:—2 of 19742 in section 125 of the code of criminal procedure, 1973, in sub-section (1), in the explanation,  for clause (b), the following clause shall be substituted, namely:—amendment of section 125"(b) "wife" includes—5(i) a woman who has been divorced by, or has obtained a divorce from her husband and has not remarried; and(ii) a woman who has married a man during the subsistence of his first marriage and has been living with that man as his wife for a reasonable period of time" statement of objects and reasonssection 125 of the code of criminal procedure, 1973 provides for maintenance to the neglected wife, child and parents the object is to prevent starvation and vagrancy by compelling the person to perform the obligation which he owes in respect of his wife, child, father or mother who are unable to support themselvesa woman married to a man during the subsistence of his first marriage is not entitled to claim maintenance as in law a second marriage during the subsistence of the first marriage is not legal and valid such a woman though she is de facto  the wife of the man, in law she is not his wife in such a situation the second wife cannot claim the benefit of section 125 for no fault of her the husband is absolved of his responsibility of maintaining his second wife this is manifestly unfair and unreasonable the man should not be allowed to take advantage of his own illegal acts law should not be insensitive to the suffering of such womenthe bill, therefore, seeks to amend the code of criminal procedure, 1973 with a view to enable the second wife to claim maintenance from her husbandhence this billnew delhi;jagdambika  palnovember 27, 2017 annexure extract from the code of criminal procedure, 1973(2 of 1974)    chapter  ix order for maintenance of wives, children and parents125 (1) if any person having sufficient means neglects or refuses to maintain—order for maintenance of wives, children and parents(a) his wife, unable to maintain herself, or (b) his legitimate or  illegitimate  minor child, whether married or not, unable to maintain itself, or    explanation— for the purposes of this chapter,— (a) "minor" means a person who, under the provisions of the indian  majority act, 1875  (9 of 1875) is deemed not to have attained his majority (b) "wife" includes a woman who has been divorced by, or has obtained a divorce from, her husband and has not remarried     lok  sabha———— a billfurther to amend the code of criminal procedure, 1973————(shri jagdambika pal, mp)gmgipmrnd—2659ls(s3)—18122017