New Delhi, July 10 2024 : In a landmark judgment, the Supreme Court of India declared on Wednesday that maintenance is a fundamental right and not a matter of charity, allowing Muslim women to seek maintenance from their husbands under Section 125 of the erstwhile Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). This provision applies to all married women, irrespective of their religion.
A Bench comprising Justice B.V. Nagarathna and Justice Augustine George Masih delivered concurrent verdicts in separate judgments, affirming that Section 125 of the CrPC, which ensures a wife’s legal right to maintenance, extends to Muslim women as well. Furthermore, the ruling includes women who may not be married but are dependent on relatives for survival.
The Supreme Court dismissed a criminal appeal by Mohd Abdul Samad, who argued that under Muslim law, women were not entitled to maintenance. Abdul Samad challenged the Telangana High Court’s decision, which upheld a family court’s maintenance order in favor of his divorced wife. He contended that a divorced Muslim woman should seek maintenance under the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986, rather than Section 125 of the CrPC.
Justice Nagarathna, while pronouncing the verdict, emphasized that Section 125 applies to all women, reinforcing that maintenance is a right for married women across all religions.
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