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 applies to all married women regardless of religion.
A bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and Augustine George Masih, while delivering a separate but concurrent judgment, said that Section 125 of the erstwhile CrPC, which deals with the legal right to maintenance of the wife, covered Muslim women.
"We are dismissing the criminal appeal with the major finding that Section 125 will apply to all women and not just married women," Justice Nagarathna said while delivering the judgement.
The bench said that maintenance is not a charity but a right of married women and it applies to all married women, irrespective of their religion.
The apex court dismissed the plea of a man named Mohammed Abdul Samad, who had challenged the Telangana High Court order refusing to interfere with the maintenance order of the family court.
He has argued that a divorced Muslim woman is not entitled to maintenance under Section 125 of the CrPC and the provisions of the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986 have to be invoked.
A bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and Augustine George Masih, while delivering a separate but concurrent judgment, said that Section 125 of the erstwhile CrPC, which deals with the legal right to maintenance of the wife, covered Muslim women.
"We are dismissing the criminal appeal with the major finding that Section 125 will apply to all women and not just married women," Justice Nagarathna said while delivering the judgement.
The bench said that maintenance is not a charity but a right of married women and it applies to all married women, irrespective of their religion.
The apex court dismissed the plea of a man named Mohammed Abdul Samad, who had challenged the Telangana High Court order refusing to interfere with the maintenance order of the family court.
He has argued that a divorced Muslim woman is not entitled to maintenance under Section 125 of the CrPC and the provisions of the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986 have to be invoked.
