The Supreme Court of India clarified that a divorced Muslim woman can seek maintenance under the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), addressing the impact of a 1986 law that limited relief to Muslim personal law. The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986, was seen as a watershed moment that undermined the country’s secular ethos. It sought to nullify a Court judgment in the Shah Bano case (1985), which allowed a divorced Muslim woman to seek maintenance from a magistrate under Section 125 of the CrPC.
In 2001, a Constitution Bench nearly declared the 1986 statute unconstitutional for discriminating against Muslim women, but ultimately upheld it. The Act was found lawful after the Bench construed it in a way that did not limit Muslim women’s access to secular remedies. Several High Court opinions differed on whether Muslim women should use Section 3 of the 1986 Act or Section 125 of the CrPC.
A recent ruling by Justices B.V. Nagarathna and Augustine George Masih clarifies that a Muslim woman’s rights under the 1986 Act, such as maintenance during the Iddat period, a dignified life until remarriage, and return of mehr and dowry, were not in conflict with her right to seek maintenance like any other woman.
Justice Masih believes that both the personal law provision and the secular remedy for seeking maintenance should exist in their respective jurisdictions.
The 1986 Act requires Muslim husbands to provide for their divorced wives and children up to a certain point, whereas the CrPC can be used by women who are unable to support themselves. Justice Nagarathna’s concurring opinion examines the social objective of the CrPC’s provision for maintenance, which tries to reduce vagrancy among women by requiring husbands to support their wives. The 1986 Act formalized the rights of divorced Muslim women in personal law. This right complements, rather than replaces, existing legal rights.
The Court’s ruling exemplifies its use of harmonious interpretation to broaden rights and promote secular access to remedies. The Court has clarified that Muslim women’s right to claim maintenance under secular legislation has not been extinguished since 1986.
ABHISHEK VERMA
Author: This news is edited by: Abhishek Verma, (Editor, CANON TIMES)
Authentic news.
