In a significant ruling by the Supreme Court, divorced Muslim women have been granted the right to seek maintenance under Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). This verdict, emerging from a case challenging the applicability of the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986, marks a pivotal moment in legal empowerment.
The case stemmed from a dispute where a husband contested a Family Court’s directive to provide Rs. 20,000 monthly interim maintenance to his divorced wife. The Telangana High Court subsequently revised this to Rs. 10,000 per month. The Supreme Court’s Division Bench of BV Nagarathna and Augustine George Masih unanimously upheld the divorced woman’s entitlement to approach Section 125 of CrPC for maintenance, despite arguments favoring exclusive recourse to the 1986 Act.
Justice Nagarathna underscored that Section 125 of CrPC applies universally to all women, emphasizing its broader scope beyond marital status. This decision reaffirms the rights of divorced Muslim women under secular law, ensuring equitable access to legal remedies irrespective of personal law provisions.
