maintenance

Hello, Amrit.

Considering the situation of Muslim women with regard to maintenance, the Supreme Court made several observations in the landmark judgment of Shah Bano Begum case. It interpreted Clause (b) of the Explanation to section 125 (1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which defines "wife" as including a divorced wife, contains no words of limitation to justify the exclusion of Muslim women from its scope. Wife, means a wife as defined, irrespective of the religion professed by her or by her husband. Therefore, a divorced Muslim woman so long as she has not married, is a wife for the purpose of section 125. If the divorced wife is able to maintain herself, the husband's liability to provide maintenance for her ceases with the expiration of the period of iddat. However, if she is unable to maintain herself, she is entitled to take recourse to section 125 of the Criminal Procedure Code. Also, in a recent ruling of Bombay High Court, the Muslim wife was entitled to maintenance for herself and her children, after 10 years of being divorced. (https://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2010-02-17/mumbai/28122076_1_claim-maintenance-muslim-woman-lower-court). Therefore, the divorced wife can claim maintenance from her husband if the husband is financially sound, provided that she has not remarried.

–Regards

Adv. Pooja;

www.lawkonect.com