Maintenance is not Charity but Right, Muslim Women can Seek Maintenance from their Husbands under Section 125 of the CrPC: Supreme Court

In a major ruling today (July 10, 2024), the Supreme Court (SC) of India ruled that a divorced Muslim woman can seek maintenance from their husband by filing a petition for maintenance against him under Section 125 of the CrPC (Code of Criminal Procedure). Further, it added that the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986 will not prevail over the secular law. The two-judge bench constituting Justice BV Nagarathna and Justice Augustine George Masih pronounced the verdict dismissing a Muslim man’s (Mohd Abdul Samad) petition challenging the order of the Telangana High Court that refused to interfere with the maintenance order of a family court. The family court directed the petitioner-husband to pay interim maintenance to his divorced wife under Section 125 of the CrPC. 

The SC bench clarified that if the concerned Muslim woman gets divorced during the pendency of the application under Section 125 of the CrPC then she can take recourse to the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019. While pronouncing the judgment, Justice Nagarathna said, “We are dismissing the criminal appeal with the conclusion that Section 125 CrPC would be applicable to all women and not just married women.” In this case, the two-judge bench pronounced separate but concurring judgments that upheld the order of the Telangana HC directing to pay maintenance of rupees ten thousand (Rs. 10,000) per month. The bench further directed the family court to dispose of the matter within a period of 6 months. 

During the proceedings, Senior Advocate S Wasim A Qadri, Advocate Saeed Qadri, Advocate Saahil Gupta, Advocate Deepak Bhati, Advocate Shivendra Singh, and Advocate-on-Record Udita Singh appeared for petitioner-husband. After hearing the contentions of the counsels appearing for the petitioner-husband and Amicus Curiae: Senior Advocate Gaurav Agarwal, the SC bench said that maintenance is not charity but the right of a married woman. Moreover, the same applies to all married women regardless of their religion. The bench added, “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 recognize a homemaker’s role and sacrifice.” Lastly, the top court dismissed the petition filed by a Muslim man against Telangana HC’s decision.