law: Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956 
  18. Maintenance of wife 
  (1) Subject to the provisions of this section, a Hindu wife,
  
  whether married before or after the commencement of this Act, shall be entitled
  
  to be maintained by her husband during her lifetime.
  (2) A Hindu wife shall be entitled to live separately from her
  
  husband without forfeiting her claim to maintenance- 
  (a) if he is guilty of desertion, that is to
  
  say, of abandoning her without reasonable cause and without her consent or
  
  against her wish, or of willfully neglecting her;
  (b) if he has treated her with such cruelty as
  
  to cause a reasonable apprehension in her mind that it will be harmful or injurious
  
  to live with her husband;
  (c) if he is suffering from a virulent form of
  
  leprosy;
  (d) if he has any other wife living;
  (e) if he keeps a concubine in the same house
  
  in which his wife is living or habitually resides with a concubine elsewhere;
  (f) if he has ceased to be a Hindu by
  
  conversion to another religion;
  (g) if there is any other cause justifying her
  
  living separately.
  (3) A Hindu wife shall not be entitled to separate residence and
  
  maintenance from her husband if she is unchaste or ceases to be a Hindu by
  
  conversion to another religion.