Muslim women can ask for alimony under section 125, Supreme Court's big decision

A double bench of the Supreme Court dismissed the petition of a Muslim man challenging the interim maintenance order in favour of his divorced wife under Section 125 of the CrPC.

The Supreme Court's decision has brought great relief to those Muslim women who have been divorced or are forced to live separately from their husbands. The court ruled on Wednesday that Muslim women can file a petition for maintenance against their husbands under Section 125 of the CRPC.

Justice BV Nagarathna and Justice Augustine George Masih gave separate but similar judgments. The country's top court said in its judgment that some husbands are not aware of the fact that the wife, who is a housewife, but the identity of these home makers is dependent on them emotionally and in other ways.

What did the court say in its decision

The court said, "An Indian married woman should be conscious of the fact that she is not financially independent. Empowerment by such an order means that she gets access to resources. We have also added the aspect of 'illegal divorce' under the 2019 Act in our decision. We have come to the major conclusion that Section 125 of the CrPC will apply to all women (including live-in) and not only to married women."

The court also said that if the case is pending under Section 125 CrPC and the Muslim woman gets divorced, she can resort to the 2019 Act. The 2019 Act provides remedies in addition to Section 125 CrPC.

Muslim man's plea dismissed

A double bench of the Supreme Court dismissed the petition of a Muslim man challenging the interim maintenance order in favour of his divorced wife under Section 125 of the CrPC. The court made it clear that the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986, will not repeal the provisions of Section 125 CrPC.

A Muslim woman Agha had filed a petition under Section 125 of the CRPC demanding alimony from her husband. The petitioner had pleaded in the court to direct her husband to pay her interim alimony of Rs 20,000 per month.

Challenging the order of Telangana High Court

This order of the Family Court was challenged in the Telangana High Court. Where it was said that the parties had divorced according to Muslim Personal Law in the year 2017. Earlier, in 2013, the order of the Family Court was restored, in which a divorced Muslim woman was considered entitled to maintain a petition under Section 125 of CrPC for maintenance.

It is noteworthy that since the Shah Bano case of 1985, the Supreme Court has been continuously saying in its decisions that Muslim women who take divorce are entitled to maintenance. The Shah Bano decision was overturned by the government, after which the Supreme Court clarified the aspect of maintenance of Muslim women in the triple talaq decision. Along with this, orders were given regarding convenience on many other issues and since then cases have been reaching the Supreme Court.