Supreme Court major maintenance order for Muslim women

A divorced Muslim woman can claim maintenance from her husband under Section 125 of the Criminal Procedure Code – the wives' maintenance law, the Supreme Court ruled today. The important verdict came when a bench of judges BV Nagarathna and Augustine George Masih dismissed a Muslim man's plea challenging a direction to pay maintenance to his wife after divorce.

“We hereby dismiss the appeal in the criminal case, concluding that Section 125 is applicable to all women and not just married women,” said Justice Nagarathna. Justice Nagarathna and Justice Masih delivered separate but concurrent judgments.