BJP’s Shazia Ilmi lauds SC judgment on Muslim women claiming maintenance, calls it “historic decision”

New Delhi [India], July 11 (ANI): Reacting to the Supreme Court’s judgment enabling Muslim women to claim maintenance from their husbands under Section 125 of CrPC, BJP leader Shazia Ilmi said that this is a historic decision and a relief for all Muslim women.

BJP leader Shazia Ilmi said, “This is a historic decision and a relief for all Muslim women. Under this decision, any divorced Muslim woman can demand a maintenance allowance u/s 125 of CrPC. It will be mandatory to fulfill that demand. Supreme Court has also said that this is not a donation of any kind and a divorced woman can approach the court and demand maintenance under this section. I think this is the result of the prayers of a lot of Muslim women.”

She further said that the same verdict was pronounced in 1985 but that time, due to pressure from the All India Muslim Law Board, Rajiv Gandhi’s government overturned the judgement of the SC and brought an ordinance.

She further said, “The SC has upheld the criminalization of the practice of triple talaq and said that the divorced Muslim woman can not only demand a maintenance allowance but also take support of 2019 Protection of Rights on Marriage Act which can give her more protection.”

Supreme Court Advocate Manisha Chava said, “When the petition was filed here, Supreme Court decided that the main issue is that remedy being sought in personal laws is something for which they should go through personal laws and not secular laws. But the Supreme Court gave the decision that personal laws can’t supersede secular laws and though there is a remedy, in Sections 3 and 4 of The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act 1986, you can’t interfere with the CrPC provisions. You can’t say that those won’t be applicable.”

She further said that this must not be looked as charity but given due to economical distress the woman is facing.

Senior Advocate S Wasim A Qadri, appearing for the husband in the matter, said, “The issue raised before the Supreme Court was whether application 125 CrPC is maintainable by a divorced woman or she is entitled to file application u/s 3 of the Special Act. But Supreme Court has gone beyond this saying that apart from this issue, the lady – if she is a housewife and has no source of income – is entitled to maintain a joint account. So, this is a landmark judgement. I will call it a judgement for the upliftment of the empowerment of the woman. This is not applicable only to a divorced woman or Muslim woman. It is applicable to all women, irrespective of their religion.”

The Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that Section 125 Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) applied to all married women including Muslim married women and they can claim maintenance from their husbands under these provisions.

The top court also echoed that the time has come for Indian men to recognise the role and sacrifice of ‘homemakers’ who are the strength and backbone of an Indian family and they must provide financial support to her by having joint accounts and ATMs.

A bench of justices BV Nagarathna and Augustine George Masih ruled that Section 125 CrPC, which deals with a wife’s legal right to maintenance, is applicable to all women and a divorced Muslim female can claim maintenance from her husband under it.

“Section 125 of the CrPC applies to all married women including Muslim married women. Section 125 of the CrPC applies to all non-Muslim divorced women,” the top court said.