The Hon’ble Supreme Court, by a recent judgment, has held that Muslim women divorced through triple talaq can claim maintenance under section 125 of CrPC and the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986, are ultra vires the Constitution.
The decision came in the backdrop of a challenge filed by a Muslim man from Telangana who did not comply with the High Court order to pay Rs 10,000 as interim maintenance to his former wife. Rejecting the contention raised by the petitioner, the apex court affirmed that the provision in issue under Section 125 CrPC is ‘secular’ to warrant its application to the married woman in near and substantial measure, irrespective of the religion.
While delivering the concurrent judgments, the learned Justices BV Nagarathna and Augustine George Masih stated very emphatically that the enactment of the Women’s Protection of Rights In Criminal Laws (Amendment) Act, 1986, cannot prevent the universal application of the provisions of Section 125 CrPC.
The court also pointed out that a divorced Muslim woman can avail of other remedies under the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019, in case her application for maintenance u/s 125 CrPC is pending.
This ruling confirms the Shah Bano case, where the unmistakable Section 125 CrPC was applied to Muslim women by the apex court. It has brought a new revolutionary change for the divorced women of the Muslim community to provide them maintenance under the Criminal procedure code.
