India’s top court recently ruled that divorced Muslim women can seek alimony (court-ordered payments) from their ex-husbands under Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Code (CrPc). While in India, Muslims are governed by the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937, this judgement observes that Muslim women can seek relief under the secular law as well.
“The emphasis is on sufficient maintenance, not minimal amount. After all, maintenance is a facet of gender parity and enabler of equality, not charity. It follows that a destitute Muslim woman has the right to seek maintenance under Section 125 of the CrPC despite the enactment of the 1986 Act,” the Supreme Court observed in its judgement.
A family court in the state of Telangana in south India had directed Mohammad Abdul Samad to pay 20,000 (INR) or 240 USD monthly to his ex-wife who had filed a petition that Samad had divorced her under the triple talaq practice. In December 2023, the Telangana High Court directed Samad to pay half of this amount as interim maintenance and said that there were several questions which needed to be ‘adjudicated’, following which Samad moved the Supreme Court which ruled against his argument that the Muslim Personal Law should prevail over the secular law.
The ruling has drawn mixed reactions from feminists of different schools of thought. While many advocacy groups saw it as gender just, and progressive, some groups, including some Muslim religious groups, said this was against the Sharia law.
Activist Zakia Soman, founder of the non-profit Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan, observed that this judgement was progressive and would help end legal discrimination of Muslim women on the issues of marriage, and divorce. “Maintenance is an important issue in the life of every woman. The judgement is progressive and expands the scope for Muslim women to get maintenance like all other women. In the period of iddat (the period that follows after the dissolution of marriage or death of her husband), there is a limit of 90 days for maintenance. However, under Section 125 of the CrPc, she is entitled to ask for maintenance for as long as she requires. This is a very good judgement because a lot of the cases that you see in family court are about maintenance."
In terms of maintenance, this judgement will give Muslim women more leverage, she added.
Women’s rights lawyer Flavia Agnes said “this judgement is inclusive and more Muslim women would benefit from it”. In terms of the implementation, one needs lawyers with good understanding. In many cases, it is difficult to find lawyers who can provide sound legal aid in these cases, Agnes told Missing Perspectives.
However, Asma Zehra, president of the All India Muslim Women’s Association (AIMWA), a non-profit fighting for rights of Muslim women, said this judgement was a blow to the constitutional rights of Muslim women.
“Each community holds marriage and divorce as something personal. We have ideological differences also in our marriage system. It is a contract, and not a permanent system. We have a very clear ruling on how divorce takes place — both the man and woman are absolved of all rights after the iddat. We as Muslim women — and now I am speaking as a Muslim woman — we find it empowering, and liberating in not being tied up to the man. Why do you want to condemn our choices?” said Zehra.
Zehra pointed out there was a discourse in the media that Muslim women are ‘regressive, oppressed, and backward’. “Majoritarianism has set in in the country since 2014. Choices are being curtailed in the name of uniformity,” she said.
The right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which has formed a coalition government in June 2024 at the Centre has been advocating for the Uniform Civil Code — a common set of religious laws for all Indians irrespective of religion, gender, and sexual orientation — for years now. Religious minority groups worry that this would be a blow to their constitutional rights to freedom and religion. Reports point out how violence against Indian women has increased during the BJP rule since it came to power at the Centre in 2014.