Divorced Muslim Women Entitled To Maintenance, Rules Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that divorced Muslim women in the country have the right to claim maintenance under Section 125 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), saying that the “secular” provision is applicable to all married women irrespective of their religion.

The big judgment came as a bench of Justice BV Nagarathna and Justice Augustine George Masih dismissed a Muslim man's petition challenging a direction to pay his wife maintenance after divorce. "We are hereby dismissing the criminal appeal with the major conclusion that Section 125 would be applicable to all women and not just married women," Justice Nagarathna said. Justice Nagarathna and Justice Masih delivered separate, but concurrent judgments.

The decision came in response to a challenge by a Muslim man from Telangana who contested a High Court order to pay Rs 10,000 in interim maintenance to his former wife. The bench affirms the applicability of Section 125 CrPC to all women. The bench also ruled that if, during the pendency of the application, the woman gets divorced, then she can take recourse to the 2019 Act. The 2019 Act provides a remedy in addition to the remedy under Section 125 CrPc.

During the hearing, the bench said that an Indian married man must become conscious of the fact that he has to be available towards his wife, who is not financially independent. It also said that an Indian man who makes such efforts on his own must be acknowledged.