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'Muslim men must provide for divorced wife'

The liability of the husband does not end after the iddat period that follows a divorce, as laid down in the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act 1986, a five-judge constitution bench of the court ruled.

Divorced women cannot remarry during the iddat period, which extends from 90 to 130 days.

Divorced Muslim women could also seek maintenance from their relatives and from the state Waqf board, the bench headed by Justice G B Pattanaik ruled.

Sitting with him were S Rajendra Babu, D P Mohapatra, Doraiswamy Raju and Shivraj V Patil.

In 1985, the Supreme Court had ruled that divorced Muslim women were entitled to maintenance for life. The order overruled an earlier provision that allowed payment for only three months after divorce.

But after orthodox Islamic groups said the ruling clashed with Muslim personal laws, the government enacted the 1986 law that ended the women's life-long right to financial support from husbands. Since then, women activists have been fighting the 1986 legislation. It is this issue that was clarified by the court on Friday.

"A Muslim husband is liable to make reasonable and fair provision for the future of the divorced wife, which obviously includes her maintenance as well," the bench said. "Such a reasonable and fair provision extending beyond the iddat period must be made by the husband within the iddat period," the court ruled.

The bench also ruled that a divorced Muslim woman, who had not remarried and who was not able to maintain herself after the iddat period "can proceed against her relatives who are liable to maintain her in proportion to the properties, which they inherit on her death".

"If any of the relatives are unable to pay maintenance, a magistrate may direct the state Waqf board established under the act to pay such maintenance," the court ruled.

Welcoming the judgement, Anees Ahmed, a lawyer who represented the National Commission for Women during the hearings in the Supreme Court, said the confusion on the maintenance payable to divorced Muslim women had now been cleared.

"The court has given a very benevolent judgement, which favours Muslim women and is according to true Islamic traditions," Ahmed told Indo-Asian News Service.

Indo-Asian News Service

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