Supreme Court On Alimony: The Supreme Court gave a big decision on Wednesday (July 10, 2024). In an important decision, the court has again clarified that under Section 125 of the CrPC, a Muslim woman can demand alimony from her husband. A Muslim man had challenged the Telangana High Court’s order to pay alimony to his wife in the Supreme Court. While hearing this petition on Wednesday, the court has given this important decision. A man named Mohammad Abdul Samad had filed the petition.
A bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and Augustine George Masih dismissed the petition filed by Mohammad Abdul Samad against the order to pay alimony to his divorced wife under Section 125 of the CRPC. The court held that the ‘Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act 1986’ cannot prevail over secular law. Justice Nagarathna and Justice Masih gave separate but concurring judgments. The High Court had ordered to pay alimony of Rs 10,000 to Mohammad Samad.
Section 125 applies to all women: Supreme Court
While pronouncing the verdict, Justice Nagarathna said, “We are dismissing the criminal appeal with the conclusion that Section 125 of the CrPC applies to all women and not just married women.”
The court also said in its decision that if the Muslim woman concerned gets divorced while the application under section 125 of CrPC is pending, then she can take recourse to the ‘Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act 1986’. The court said that the ‘Muslim Act’ provides a solution in addition to the remedy under section 125 of CrPC.