Mohd. Ahmed Khan v. Shah Bano Begum
A divorced Muslim woman unable to maintain herself can claim maintenance under S125 CrPC beyond the iddat period; the secular provision overrides personal law.
Facts
A Muslim husband, an advocate, divorced his wife of over forty years by triple talaq after she sought maintenance. He paid mahr and maintenance for the iddat period and contended that under Muslim personal law his liability ceased thereafter. The wife sought maintenance under S125 CrPC, which the Magistrate and High Court granted; the husband appealed.
Issues
- Whether a divorced Muslim woman is a 'wife' entitled to maintenance under S125 CrPC after the iddat period.
- Whether payment of mahr/dower under S127(3)(b) extinguishes the husband's liability under S125.
Arguments
The husband argued S125 must yield to Muslim personal law, under which a divorced wife is entitled only to iddat-period maintenance, and that payment of mahr discharged his obligation under S127(3)(b). The wife argued S125 is a secular provision applying irrespective of religion and that mahr is not an amount 'payable on divorce' so as to extinguish maintenance.
Held
The Court held S125 is a secular, self-contained provision aimed at preventing destitution and vagrancy and applies to all wives irrespective of religion. A divorced Muslim woman unable to maintain herself is entitled to maintenance beyond iddat, up to remarriage or death. Mahr is paid in consideration of marriage, not 'on divorce', so it does not extinguish liability under S127(3)(b), though it may be taken into account in fixing quantum. The Court found no conflict between S125 and the Quran and overruled the narrower view in Bai Tahira on the effect of customary payments.
Ratio decidendi
S125 CrPC is a secular measure of social justice that overrides personal law; a divorced Muslim wife unable to maintain herself is entitled to maintenance under S125 beyond the iddat period until she remarries or dies.
Significance
Landmark on the secular reach of S125. It triggered the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986, enacted to dilute it; that Act was later read down in Danial Latifi v. Union of India (2001) 7 SCC 740 to preserve the divorced woman's right to a reasonable and fair provision, and Shabana Bano (2010) and Shamima Farooqui (2015) reaffirmed access to S125. Followed by the book as the leading authority on the object and scope of S125.
Related
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Take a subject test →Source: /Users/tiwari/Documents/All Law Books/raw/CrPC:BNSS Book/CHAPTER 9 ORDER FOR MAINTENANCE OF WIVES, CHILDREN AND PARENTS.md/Users/tiwari/Documents/All Law Books/raw/CrPC:BNSS Book/BNSS_CrPC_Correspondence_Table.md
