In a significant judgment delivered today, Wednesday, July 10, the Supreme Court ruled that a divorced Muslim woman can file a claim for maintenance against her former husband under Section 125 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) (this comes under Section 144 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, which replaced the CrPC from July 1, 2024).

Justices BV Nagarathna and Augustine George Masih delivered separate but concurring judgments in a case where a Muslim man challenged a Telangana High Court direction to pay an interim maintenance of Rs 10,000 to his former wife, Justice Nagarathna said, “We are hereby dismissing the criminal appeal with the major conclusion that Section 125 CrPC would be applicable to all woman and not just married woman.”

The Court also held that if a Muslim woman gets divorced while her application under the afore-mentioned section is pending, she can seek recourse under the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019. This Act provides an additional remedy alongside the provisions of Section 125 CrPC.

In the current case, the man’s counsel argued before the apex court that under the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986, a divorced Muslim woman is not entitled to benefits under Section 125 CrPC, contending that the 1986 Act is more beneficial to Muslim women than CrPC.

But the bench of Justices Nagarathna and Masih would have none of it.

In the landmark Shah Bano case, the Supreme Court had ruled that Section 125 CrPC is a secular provision applicable to Muslim women as well. However, this was nullified by the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986, whose validity was upheld in 2001.