The Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that Muslim women are entitled to alimony upon divorce under Section 125 of the CrPC (Code of Criminal Procedure).
The bench of Justice BV Nagarathna and Justice Augustine George Masih dismissed a Muslim man's petition challenging a direction to pay maintenance to his divorced wife under CrPC.
According to Live Law, Justice Nagarathna and Justice Masih delivered separate but concurrent, judgments.
"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," Live Law quoted Justice Nagarathna saying.
The bench clarified that the law for seeking maintenance applies to all married women, regardless of their religion.
The Supreme Court was hearing a plea by Telangana Man, who had been ordered to pay maintenance of Rs 20,000 to his ex-wife by a family court.
Before turning to the Supreme Court for a verdict, the individual had appealed the family court's ruling in the high court. In December 2023, the high court ordered him to pay 10,000/- as interim maintenance while acknowledging that there were several unresolved issues that needed to be adjudicated, according to a report by the Indian Express.
After that, the man from Telangana challenged this order before the Supreme Court. He told the apex court that the high court had failed to appreciate that the provisions of The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986, which is a special act, would prevail over the provisions of Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), which is a general act.
