Right to Maintenance of Divorced Indian Muslim Women

Right to Maintenance of Divorced Indian Muslim Women

Important for Prelims:

Divorced Muslim Women’s Right to Maintenance, Supreme Court (SC), Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC)-125, Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986.

Important for Mains:

Evolution of legal provisions for maintenance, court decisions regarding maintenance of divorced Muslim women.

24/02/2024

Why in News:

Recently, a two-judge bench of the Supreme Court (SC) has decided to examine whether a divorced Muslim woman has the right to claim maintenance under Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) against her ex-husband.

Background related to the case:

  • A Muslim man had challenged the Telangana High Court's direction to pay ₹10,000 interim maintenance allowance to his former wife.
  • He argued that in this situation the rule of maintenance would be decided with the help of the provisions of the Muslim Women (Maintenance of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986.
  • He informed the Supreme Court that the Telangana HC did not hold that the provisions of the 1986 Act, which is a special Act, would be applicable to the provisions of Section 125 of the CrPC which is a general Act.
  • The Supreme Court, while hearing the Muslim man's petition, said that the 1986 Act no longer says that a divorced Muslim woman cannot file a petition under Section 125 of the CrPC, 1973.
  • The court has reserved its decision on the question as to which of these two laws will remain effective.

Evolution of legal provisions for maintenance:

Section 125 of CrPC:

  • Muslim women could demand maintenance under Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) like women from other communities.
  • Section 125 of the CrPC creates a secular law for maintenance of wife, child or parents.
  • The law for CrPC was passed in 1973.
  • After this, the Code of Criminal Procedure i.e. CrPC was implemented in the country from 1 April 1974.
  • Section 125 of CrPC was confirmed by the Supreme Court's decision in the case of Mohammad Ahmed Khan vs. Shah Bano Begum, 1985.

Muslim Women Act, 1986:

  • In response to the Shah Bano case, the Indian Parliament enacted the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, which provided a specific mechanism for divorced Muslim women to claim maintenance.
  • It limited the period of maintenance to the Iddat period and linked the amount to the mehr or dowry to be given to the woman.
  • Iddat is a period, usually of three months, that a woman must observe before she can remarry after the death of her husband or divorce.

Daniel Latifi vs Union of India case, 2001:

  • The Supreme Court upheld the constitutional validity of the 1986 Act but extended the Muslim woman's right to maintenance until remarriage. However, it reduced the period of maintenance to the completion of Iddat.

Supreme Court's decision in the year 2009:

  • In 2009, the Supreme Court reiterated that divorced Muslim women can claim maintenance under Section 125 of the CrPC even after the Iddat period, as long as they do not remarry.
  • This reaffirmed the principle that CrPC provisions apply to any religion.

Supreme Court's decision in the year 2019:

  • The Patna High Court emphasized that divorced Muslim women have the option to seek maintenance under both Section 125 of the CrPC and the 1986 Act.

Supreme Court decisions regarding maintenance:

Section 3 of the 1986 Act:

  • According to the Court, there is a non-ambiguous clause in Section 3 of the 1986 Act. Which does not bar alternative remedies under other laws like Section 125 of CrPC.

Amicus Curiae/Amicus Curiae Presentations:

  • Amicus Curiae/Amicus Curiae agreed with the Court's observation and stressed the need for an official declaration on whether the 1986 Act takes away the right under Section 125 of the CrPC.
  • Amicus curiae/amicus curiae is a person or organization who is not a party to the case but provides expertise or information to help the court make a decision.

Constitutional Principles:

  • The judges highlighted that the 1986 Act should be interpreted to ensure that divorced Muslim women are entitled to all the maintenance rights available to other divorced women in the country.
  • He emphasized that giving less favourable/unfavorable treatment to Muslim divorced women would be a violation of constitutional principles including Articles 14, 15 and 21.

Legislative Intent:

  • Rejecting the petitioner's argument that the purpose of the 1986 Act was to prevent Muslim women from seeking relief under Section 125 of the CrPC, the Court said that if such was the legislative intention, it would have been clearly mentioned in the Act. must have been done.
  • The absence of such clear language means that there is no restriction on Muslim women from seeking relief under Section 125.

Other decisions:

  • In judgments such as Arshia Rizvi vs. State of Uttar Pradesh, 2022, Razia vs. State of Uttar Pradesh, 2022 and Shakeela Khatoon vs. State of Uttar Pradesh, 2023, the Allahabad High Court has affirmed the right of a divorced Muslim woman to claim that the Iddat Even after completion of the period, there is a provision for maintenance/discharge under Section 125 of CrPC until she marries/nikah.
  • In the Mujeeb Rahman vs. Tasleena case, 2022, the Kerala High Court judge decided that a divorced/divorced Muslim woman can demand maintenance under Section 125 of the CrPC unless she gets relief under Section 3 of the 1986 Act. .
  • This order remains in force until the amount due under section 3 is paid by the concerned person.
  • In Naushad Flourish vs. Akhila Naushad, case 2023, the Kerala High Court decided that a Muslim wife who had obtained a divorce by declaring khula (divorce at the instance of the wife and with her consent) was entitled to seek maintenance from her husband under Section 125 of the CrPC. -Can't demand nutrition.
  • According to Section 125(4) of CrPC, a wife's unwillingness to live with her husband essentially amounts to filing for divorce through Khula to get freedom from him.

Source: The Hindu

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Mains Exam Question

Discuss the legal provisions and challenges concerning the right to maintenance for divorced Muslim women in India. Analyze the evolution of relevant laws and subsequent judicial interpretations.