New Delhi, July 10: The Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that Section 125 Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) applied to all married women including Muslim married women and they can claim maintenance from their husbands under these provisions.
The top court also echoed that time has come for Indian men to recognise the role and sacrifice of 'homemakers' who are strength and backbone of an Indian family and they must provide financial support to her by having joint accounts and ATM
A bench of justices BV Nagarathna and Augustine George Masih ruled that Section 125 CrPC, which deals with wife's legal right to maintenance, is applicable to all women and divorced Muslim female can claim maintenance from her husband under it.
"Section 125 of the CrPC applies to all married women including Muslim married women. Section 125 of the CrPC applies to all non-Muslim divorced women," the top court said.
"In so far as divorced Muslim women are concerned, - i) Section 125 of the CrPC applies to all such Muslim women, married and divorced under the Special Marriage Act in addition to remedies available under the Special Marriage Act. If Muslim women are married and divorced under Muslim law then Section 125 of the CrPC as well as the provisions of the 1986 Act are applicable. Option lies with the Muslim divorced women to seek remedy under either of the two laws or both laws. This is because the 1986 Act is not in derogation of Section 125 of the CrPC but in addition to the said provision," the top court said.
If Section 125 of the CrPC is also resorted to by a divorced Muslim woman, as per the definition under the 1986 Act, then any order passed under the provisions of 1986 Act shall be taken into consideration under Section 127(3)(b) of the CrPC, the court said.
The 1986 Act could be resorted to by a divorced Muslim woman, as defined under the said act, by filing an application thereunder which could be disposed off in accordance with the said enactment, the court said.
In case of an illegal divorce as per the provisions of the 2019 Act then, relief under Section 5 of the said Act could be availed for seeking subsistence allowance or, at the option of such a Muslim woman, remedy under Section 125 of the CrPC could also be availed, the court said.
Adding further to it, the top court directed if during the pendency of a petition filed under Section 125 of the CrPC, a Muslim woman is 'divorced' then she can take recourse under Section 125 of the CrPC or file a petition under the 2019 Act.
"The provisions of the 2019 Act provide remedy in addition to and not in derogation of Section 125 of the CrPC," the top court said.
The top court's ruling came on an appeal challenging the High Court of Telangana order dated December 13, 2023 which modified the family court decision. HC decreased the quantum of interim maintenance payable by the Appellant herein from Rs 20,000 per month to 10,000 per month.
Senior Advocate S Wasim A Qadri along with advocate Saeed Qadri appeared for the husband in the matter.The man has challenged the maintenance amount saying that the section 125 is not maintainable in the view of section 3,4 and 5 of muslim women ( protection of rights of divorce) Act 1986.
The top court said that the High Court of Telangana, while modifying the Order of the Family Court, was correct in upholding the maintainability of the petition filed under Section 125 of CrPC and therefore, there is no infirmity in its impugnedorder dated December 13 2023.
Senior Advocate Gaurav Agrawal, who appeared as amicus curiae, eventually went on to submit that the remedy under a secular statutory provision of Section125 of CrPC 1973 is not foreclosed for a divorced Muslim woman by virtue of enactment of a personal law remedy under Section 3 of the 1986 Act to the limited extent of maintenance, as the latter does not in any manner, expressly or by necessary implication, bar the exercise of former remedy.
"Unequivocally, the most appropriate construction of these secular provisions of CrPC 1973 in regard to the right of maintenance is that the legislature would never intend that an undue benefit is derived after the end of the marital relationship between the parties concerned. Hence, the provision of Section 127(3)(b) of CrPC 1973 would act in the nature of a proviso to the right provided under Section 125 of CrPC 1973 only in such a circumstance where sufficient means of livelihood after the divorce, and the provisions contemplating the future needs of divorced Muslim women, stands provided to the satisfaction of the court concerned," the order copy read.
"We are inclined to conclude that equivalent rights of maintenance ascertained under both, the secular provision of Section 125 of CrPC 1973, and the personal law provision of Section 3 of the 1986 Act, parallelly exist in their distinct domains and jurisprudence. Thereby, leading to their harmonious construction and continued existence of the right to seek maintenance for a divorced Muslim woman under the provisions of CrPC 1973 despite the enactment of the 1986 Act," the order copy said. (ANI)
