Muslim women have right to seek maintenance from spouse, rules Supreme Court

Top court dismisses petition of one Mohd Abdul Samad, who challenged Telangana High Court order refusing to interfere with maintenance order of family court

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that a Muslim woman can seek maintenance from her husband under Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), which is applicable to all married women irrespective of religion.

A Bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and Augustine George Masih, which pronounced a separate but concurrent verdict, said Section 125 of the erstwhile CrPC, which deals with wife’s legal right to maintenance, covers Muslim women.

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“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,” Justice Nagarathna said while pronouncing the verdict.

The Bench said maintenance is not charity but the right of married women and it is applicable to all married women irrespective of their religion.

The top court dismissed the petition of one Mohd Abdul Samad, who has challenged the order of the Telangana High Court refusing to interfere with the maintenance order of the family court.

He has contended that a divorced Muslim woman is not entitled for maintenance under Section 125 of CrPC and has to invoke the provisions of the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986.