The Supreme Court of India has ruled that a divorced Muslim woman can seek alimony from her ex-husband under Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).
This significant judgment was delivered by a bench comprising Justice BV Nagarathna and Justice Augustine George Masih, who dismissed a petition filed by a Muslim man challenging the directive to pay maintenance to his divorced wife under the CrPC.
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Justice Nagarathna emphasized that Section 125 CrPC is applicable to all women seeking maintenance, regardless of their religion. The bench asserted that maintenance is a right of married women, not an act of charity.
Justice Nagarathna highlighted the dependency of homemakers on their husbands emotionally and in other ways, stressing the need for Indian men to recognize and respect the sacrifices and roles of homemakers.
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The NDTV quoted the bench as saying, “We are hereby dismissing the criminal appeal with the major conclusion that Section 125 would be applicable to all women and not just married women.”
The bench further said, “Some husbands are not conscious of the fact that the wife, who is a homemaker, is dependent on them emotionally and in other ways. The time has come when the Indian man must recognise a homemaker’s role and sacrifice.”
