In a historic judgment, the Supreme Court on Wednesday held that Muslim women are entitled to file a petition for maintenance against their husbands under Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), Live Law reported.
The Bench of justices BV Nagarathna and Augustine George Masih dismissed a petition filed by a Muslim man’s plea against the direction to pay interim maintenance to his divorced wife under Section 125 CrPC.
The Court held that the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act 1986 will not prevail over the secular law, Live Law reported.
“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.
Alimony or maintenance, the court said, is not charity, but the right of married women.
In strong remarks, Justice Nagarathna said, “Some husbands are not conscious of the fact that the wife, who is a homemaker, is dependent on them emotionally and in other ways. The time has come when the Indian man must recognise a homemaker’s role and sacrifice.”
The bench made it clear that the law for seeking maintenance applies to all married women, irrespective of their religion.
The Supreme Court bench clarified that if during the pendency of a petition under Section 125 of the CrPC a Muslim woman is divorced, then she can take recourse to the Muslim Women(Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act 2019. The bench stated that the remedy under the 2019 Act is in addition to the remedy under Section 125 CrPC.