The Evening Wrap: SC holds divorced Muslim women entitled to maintenance under secular law

The Supreme Court on July 10 ruled that a Muslim woman can seek maintenance from her husband under Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), which is applicable to all married women irrespective of religion. A Bench of Justices B.V. Nagarathna and Augustine George Masih, which pronounced a separate but concurrent verdict, said Section 125 of the erstwhile CrPC which deals with wife’s legal right to maintenance, covers Muslim women. “We are hereby dismissing the criminal appeal with the major conclusion that Section 125 would be applicable to all women and not just married women,” Justice Nagarathna said while pronouncing the verdict. The Bench said maintenance is not charity but the right of married women and it is applicable to all married women irrespective of their religion. The Supreme Court dismissed the petition of one Mohd. Abdul Samad, who has challenged the order of the Telangana High Court refusing to interfere with the maintenance order of the family court. He has contended that a divorced Muslim woman is not entitled for maintenance under Section 125 of CrPC and has to invoke the provisions of the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986. Supreme Court upholds maintainability of West Bengal suit accusing Centre of interference in federalism using CBI without State consent The Supreme Court on July 10 upheld the maintainability of a suit filed by the State of West Bengal accusing the Union Government of “constitutional overreach” and violation of federalism by unilaterally employing the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) without the State’s prior consent. A Bench led by Justice BR Gavai refused to accept the Union’s preliminary objections to the suit, including that the Union did not control the CBI. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, for the Union, had argued that the Centre was not the master of the CBI. Mehta had argued that the premier investigating agency operated completely independent of the Centre. The Union cannot be made liable for cases registered and investigated by the premier investigating agency within a State. West Bengal had wrongly made the Union defendant in the suit, he had urged. The law officer had further contended that the CBI, too, cannot be made a defendant in the suit. The agency was not a ‘State’. Original suits filed directly in the Supreme Court under Article 131 of the Constitution exclusively deal with disputes involving the Union and the States, he had reasoned. The law officer had pressed the court to dismiss the West Bengal suit as unmaintainable on these preliminary grounds without going into the merits of the issues raised. However, the Bench, on Wednesday, said the suit raised “serious questions concerning the wider ramifications of federalism”. The Union’s preliminary contentions on maintainability did not pass muster, the court observed. The Bench proceeded to fix August 13 for framing the legal issues involved in the suit. West Bengal, represented by senior advocate Kapil Sibal, had raised specific contentions that the CBI acted on the Centre’s directions. The State had said the CBI could not investigate within a State without a specific notification from the Centre extending its jurisdiction to any area within a State, including railway lands. Prior consent of a State was mandatory. West Bengal had withdrawn its general consent to CBI investigations within its territory under Section 6 of the Delhi Special Police Establishment (DSPE) Act, 1946 way back on November 16, 2018, Mr. Sibal had noted. Nevertheless, the CBI, with the blessings of the Centre, had gone on to register 15 cases within West Bengal without taking the State’s consent. This had prompted the State to approach the Supreme Court in a suit, Sibal had explained. “After withdrawal of consent by West Bengal on November 16, 2018, the CBI could not have continued to register cases and exercise powers under the DSPE Act,” the judgment reproduced the arguments of West Bengal in the suit on Wednesday. During a previous hearing of the suit, the court had queried that “since law and order is a State subject, suppose a central employee commits dacoity, would the case be investigated by the CBI only?” Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, for West Bengal had submitted that “the intent is to get in through the CBI, then use the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) and then do whatever is to be done… This has far-reaching repercussions”. Another Bench of the Supreme Court is tackling a similar question of law related to the State of Tamil Nadu in the case of Ankit Tiwari, an ED officer against whom the Tamil Nadu Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption had launched a criminal prosecution for bribery. BMW crash case: Shiv Sena sacks key accused Mihir Shah’s father Rajesh Shah from party post Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who heads the Shiv Sena, on July 10 sacked Rajesh Shah, whose son Mihir Shah was allegedly involved in the BMW hit-and-run, as the party’s deputy leader. A one-line notice by Shiv Sena secretary Sanjay More said Rajesh Shah has been relieved from the post of the party’s deputy leader. Shah, however, continues to be a member of the Shiv Sena. “A BMW car driven by Mihir Shah allegedly rammed into a two-wheeler in the Worli area of south-central Mumbai on July 7, resulting in the death of Kaveri Nakhwa (45), who was riding pillion, while her husband Pradeep survived with injuries,” police have said. According to them, Kaveri Nakhwa was dragged for around 1.5 km by the speeding car before Mihir pulled it over, swapped the seat with his driver, and fled in another vehicle. The driver allegedly ran over her while reversing the BMW. Mihir Shah was arrested on July 9. In a first, 108 kg gold biscuits seized near defined China border in Eastern Ladakh, two locals arrested The Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) arrested two men near the China border in Eastern Ladakh on July 9 for allegedly smuggling 108 kg of gold biscuits from China. While smuggling of smaller items was common, it was the first time ever that an alleged gold smuggling racket was exposed in the area with the arrest of two locals. Another person has been detained, an ITBP official said. The accused were intercepted by an ITBP team that was out on a Long Range Patrolling in the border areas in Southern Sub Sector (SSS) in Eastern Ladakh to check infiltration and smuggling amid specific inputs of smuggling in the area near Sirigaple, Ladakh. An operation codenamed Jazba was launched on July 7 and 8 from either directions of the SSS, which is a defined border and not unmarked as in other areas of Eastern Ladakh along Line of Actual Control (LAC) where Indian and Chinese troops are in a stand-off since May 2020. A team headed by Deputy Commandant Deepak Bhatt intercepted two persons with mules within one-kilometre of China border in the SSS comprising general area Chismule, Narbula Top, Zakle and Zakla. “On being stopped, the suspects tried to run away but the patrol party chased them and reached the area where they had pitched tents. Initially the suspects said they are collecting medicinal plants but later patrol party found huge quantity of gold and other items,” said Clay Khongsai, Inspector General, ITBP. He added that this was the largest haul of gold ever by ITBP. The suspects were identified as Tsering Chamba (69) and Tenzin Targy (40), residents of Hanle. ITBP recovered a binocular, Chinese food items such as cake, milk, knives, mobile phones, and two ponies other than 108 pieces of gold biscuits weighing 1 kg each with “Gulf Gold Refinery” embossed on them from the suspects. Supreme Court reserves verdict on plea highlighting caste-based discrimination of prisoners The Supreme Court on July 10 indicated its intention to ask the Ministry of Home Affairs to intervene with States to re-haul their prison manuals and wipe out hardly acknowledged but existing practices of caste-based discrimination of prisoners. Though States like Uttar Pradesh denied caste-based discrimination within their prison walls, a Bench headed by the Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud read out portions from its prison documents, which use terms like “scavenger class”. At one point, Chief Justice Chandrachud referred to a paragraph which said convicts serving simple imprisonment would not be called on to perform menial or degrading duties unless they belonged to a class or community “accustomed” to such work. Senior advocate S. Muralidhar and advocate Prasanna S., appearing for petitioner-journalist Sukanya Shantha, pointed out that in Madhya Pradesh, if a convict was a member of a denotified tribe, he or she would automatically be seen as a habitual criminal. “This ground reality has to be altered,” Chief Justice Chandrachud remarked. The court mooted involving the legal services authorities, both at the district and State levels to conduct periodic visits to jails to check on the prisoners. It reserved the case for judgment. Earlier, in January, the apex court had found that prison manuals in more than 10 States, including Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Odisha, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala, continued to have provisions that sanctioned discrimination and forced labour on the grounds of caste in prisons. Muralidhar submitted that centuries of caste discrimination continued unabated inside prisons. Labour was segregated on the basis of caste. Modern manuals promoting reforms in prisons seemed to not have entered the prison walls. “Dalits even have a separate ward in prisons… Despite changes in the prison manuals, caste discrimination continues. These provisions in the prison manuals of the States should be repealed,” the senior lawyer had submitted. The petition cited how the Rajasthan Prison Rules 1951 had assigned Mehtars to the latrines while the Brahmins or “sufficiently high caste Hindu prisoners” were assigned to the kitchens. “The separation of Thevars, Nadars, Pallars who are allotted different sections in Palayamkottai Central Jail in Tamil Nadu provides a glaring instance of caste-based segregation of barracks,” the petition noted. Supreme Court judge Sanjiv Khanna recuses from considering review pleas on same-sex marriage Senior-most Supreme Court judge Sanjiv Khanna on July 10 recused himself from considering pleas seeking review of the apex court’s judgement last year declining legal recognition to same-sex marriage, sources said. According to the sources, Justice Khanna has cited personal reasons for his recusal. The recusal of Justice Khanna would necessitate reconstitution of a fresh five-judge constitution bench by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud for considering the review pleas. The top court on July 9 had refused to allow open court hearing of pleas seeking review of its last year’s judgement. In a setback to gay rights activists, a five-judge constitution bench headed by Justice Chandrachud had on October 17 last year refused to accord legal backing to same-sex marriage, saying there was “no unqualified right” to marriage with the exception of those that are recognised by law. A five-judge bench comprising the CJI and justices Sanjiv Khanna, Hima Kohli, B. V. Nagarathna and P. S. Narasimha was scheduled to consider in chambers the pleas seeking review of the judgement. According to practice, the review pleas are considered in chambers by judges. In its judgement, the bench had held that transgender people in heterosexual relationships have the freedom and entitlement to marry under the existing statutory provisions. It had said an entitlement to legal recognition of the right to union, akin to marriage or civil union, or conferring legal status to the relationship can be only done through “enacted law”. The five-judge constitution bench headed by CJI Chandrachud had delivered four separate verdicts on a batch of 21 petitions seeking legal sanction for same-sex marriages. All five judges were unanimous in refusing to accord legal recognition to same-sex marriage under the Special Marriage Act and observed it was within Parliament’s ambit to change the law for validating such union. While the CJI had written a separate 247-page verdict, Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul (since retired) had penned a 17-page judgement in which he broadly agreed with Justice Chandrachud’s views. In Brief:557 farmers ended lives in six months this year in Maharashtra’s Amravati: Govt report As many as 557 farmers have died by suicide in five districts under the Amravati administrative division of Maharashtra between January and June this year, an official report said. The five districts in the division are Amravati, Akola, Buldhana, Washim and Yavatmal. A report prepared by the Amravati divisional commissionerate said 557 farmers ended their lives in the division from January to June this year. The highest number of 170 suicides were recorded in Amravati district, followed by 150 in Yavatmal, 111 in Buldhana, 92 in Akola and 34 in Washim. Delhi High Court lists ED’s plea against bail to Arvind Kejriwal for July 15 The Delhi High Court on July 10 listed for July 15 the ED’s plea challenging bail granted to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the money-laundering case stemming from the alleged excise scam. The High Court had earlier stayed the trial court’s June 20 order by which Kejriwal was granted bail in the case. Justice Neena Bansal Krishna, who was scheduled to hear the plea, was informed by the counsel for the ED that they were served with Kejriwal’s reply to their petition only late Tuesday night (July 9) and the agency requires some time to file a rejoinder. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. [logo] The Evening Wrap 10 July 2024 [The Hindu logo] Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day’s biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. [View in browser]( [More newsletters]( Muslim woman entitled to seek maintenance from spouse: Supreme Court The Supreme Court on July 10 ruled that a [Muslim woman can seek maintenance]( from her husband under Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), which is applicable to all married women irrespective of religion. A Bench of Justices B.V. Nagarathna and Augustine George Masih, which pronounced a separate but concurrent verdict, said Section 125 of the erstwhile CrPC which deals with wife’s legal right to maintenance, covers Muslim women. “We are hereby dismissing the criminal appeal with the major conclusion that Section 125 would be applicable to all women and not just married women,” Justice Nagarathna said while pronouncing the verdict. The Bench said maintenance is not charity but the right of married women and it is applicable to all married women irrespective of their religion. The Supreme Court dismissed the petition of one Mohd. Abdul Samad, who has challenged the order of the Telangana High Court refusing to interfere with the maintenance order of the family court. He has contended that a divorced Muslim woman is not entitled for maintenance under Section 125 of CrPC and has to invoke the provisions of the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986. Supreme Court upholds maintainability of West Bengal suit accusing Centre of interference in federalism using CBI without State consent The Supreme Court on July 10 [upheld the maintainability of a suit filed by the State of West Bengal]( accusing the Union Government of “constitutional overreach” and violation of federalism by unilaterally employing the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) without the State’s prior consent. A Bench led by Justice BR Gavai refused to accept the Union’s preliminary objections to the suit, including that the Union did not control the CBI. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, for the Union, had argued that the Centre was not the master of the CBI. Mehta had argued that the premier investigating agency operated completely independent of the Centre. The Union cannot be made liable for cases registered and investigated by the premier investigating agency within a State. West Bengal had wrongly made the Union defendant in the suit, he had urged. The law officer had further contended that the CBI, too, cannot be made a defendant in the suit. The agency was not a ‘State’. Original suits filed directly in the Supreme Court under Article 131 of the Constitution exclusively deal with disputes involving the Union and the States, he had reasoned. The law officer had pressed the court to dismiss the West Bengal suit as unmaintainable on these preliminary grounds without going into the merits of the issues raised. However, the Bench, on Wednesday, said the suit raised “serious questions concerning the wider ramifications of federalism”. The Union’s preliminary contentions on maintainability did not pass muster, the court observed. The Bench proceeded to fix August 13 for framing the legal issues involved in the suit. West Bengal, represented by senior advocate Kapil Sibal, had raised specific contentions that the CBI acted on the Centre’s directions. The State had said the CBI could not investigate within a State without a specific notification from the Centre extending its jurisdiction to any area within a State, including railway lands. Prior consent of a State was mandatory. West Bengal had withdrawn its general consent to CBI investigations within its territory under Section 6 of the Delhi Special Police Establishment (DSPE) Act, 1946 way back on November 16, 2018, Mr. Sibal had noted. Nevertheless, the CBI, with the blessings of the Centre, had gone on to register 15 cases within West Bengal without taking the State’s consent. This had prompted the State to approach the Supreme Court in a suit, Sibal had explained. “After withdrawal of consent by West Bengal on November 16, 2018, the CBI could not have continued to register cases and exercise powers under the DSPE Act,” the judgment reproduced the arguments of West Bengal in the suit on Wednesday. During a previous hearing of the suit, the court had queried that “since law and order is a State subject, suppose a central employee commits dacoity, would the case be investigated by the CBI only?” Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, for West Bengal had submitted that “the intent is to get in through the CBI, then use the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) and then do whatever is to be done… This has far-reaching repercussions”. Another Bench of the Supreme Court is tackling a similar question of law related to the State of Tamil Nadu in the case of Ankit Tiwari, an ED officer against whom the Tamil Nadu Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption had launched a criminal prosecution for bribery. BMW crash case: Shiv Sena sacks key accused Mihir Shah’s father Rajesh Shah from party post Maharashtra Chief Minister [Eknath Shinde, who heads the Shiv Sena, on July 10 sacked Rajesh Shah]( whose son Mihir Shah was allegedly involved in the BMW hit-and-run, as the party’s deputy leader. A one-line notice by Shiv Sena secretary Sanjay More said Rajesh Shah has been relieved from the post of the party’s deputy leader. Shah, however, continues to be a member of the Shiv Sena. “A BMW car driven by Mihir Shah allegedly rammed into a two-wheeler in the Worli area of south-central Mumbai on July 7, resulting in the death of Kaveri Nakhwa (45), who was riding pillion, while her husband Pradeep survived with injuries,” police have said. According to them, Kaveri Nakhwa was dragged for around 1.5 km by the speeding car before Mihir pulled it over, swapped the seat with his driver, and fled in another vehicle. The driver allegedly ran over her while reversing the BMW. Mihir Shah was arrested on July 9. In a first, 108 kg gold biscuits seized near defined China border in Eastern Ladakh, two locals arrested The Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) [arrested two men near the China border in Eastern Ladakh]( on July 9 for allegedly smuggling 108 kg of gold biscuits from China. While smuggling of smaller items was common, it was the first time ever that an alleged gold smuggling racket was exposed in the area with the arrest of two locals. Another person has been detained, an ITBP official said. The accused were intercepted by an ITBP team that was out on a Long Range Patrolling in the border areas in Southern Sub Sector (SSS) in Eastern Ladakh to check infiltration and smuggling amid specific inputs of smuggling in the area near Sirigaple, Ladakh. An operation codenamed Jazba was launched on July 7 and 8 from either directions of the SSS, which is a defined border and not unmarked as in other areas of Eastern Ladakh along Line of Actual Control (LAC) where Indian and Chinese troops are in a stand-off since May 2020. A team headed by Deputy Commandant Deepak Bhatt intercepted two persons with mules within one-kilometre of China border in the SSS comprising general area Chismule, Narbula Top, Zakle and Zakla. “On being stopped, the suspects tried to run away but the patrol party chased them and reached the area where they had pitched tents. Initially the suspects said they are collecting medicinal plants but later patrol party found huge quantity of gold and other items,” said Clay Khongsai, Inspector General, ITBP. He added that this was the largest haul of gold ever by ITBP. The suspects were identified as Tsering Chamba (69) and Tenzin Targy (40), residents of Hanle. ITBP recovered a binocular, Chinese food items such as cake, milk, knives, mobile phones, and two ponies other than 108 pieces of gold biscuits weighing 1 kg each with “Gulf Gold Refinery” embossed on them from the suspects. Supreme Court reserves verdict on plea highlighting caste-based discrimination of prisoners The Supreme Court on July 10 indicated its intention to ask the Ministry of Home Affairs to intervene with States to re-haul their prison manuals and [wipe out hardly acknowledged but existing practices of caste-based discrimination]( of prisoners. Though States like Uttar Pradesh denied caste-based discrimination within their prison walls, a Bench headed by the Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud read out portions from its prison documents, which use terms like “scavenger class”. At one point, Chief Justice Chandrachud referred to a paragraph which said convicts serving simple imprisonment would not be called on to perform menial or degrading duties unless they belonged to a class or community “accustomed” to such work. Senior advocate S. Muralidhar and advocate Prasanna S., appearing for petitioner-journalist Sukanya Shantha, pointed out that in Madhya Pradesh, if a convict was a member of a denotified tribe, he or she would automatically be seen as a habitual criminal. “This ground reality has to be altered,” Chief Justice Chandrachud remarked. The court mooted involving the legal services authorities, both at the district and State levels to conduct periodic visits to jails to check on the prisoners. It reserved the case for judgment. Earlier, in January, the apex court had found that prison manuals in more than 10 States, including Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Odisha, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala, continued to have provisions that sanctioned discrimination and forced labour on the grounds of caste in prisons. Muralidhar submitted that centuries of caste discrimination continued unabated inside prisons. Labour was segregated on the basis of caste. Modern manuals promoting reforms in prisons seemed to not have entered the prison walls. “Dalits even have a separate ward in prisons… Despite changes in the prison manuals, caste discrimination continues. These provisions in the prison manuals of the States should be repealed,” the senior lawyer had submitted. The petition cited how the Rajasthan Prison Rules 1951 had assigned Mehtars to the latrines while the Brahmins or “sufficiently high caste Hindu prisoners” were assigned to the kitchens. “The separation of Thevars, Nadars, Pallars who are allotted different sections in Palayamkottai Central Jail in Tamil Nadu provides a glaring instance of caste-based segregation of barracks,” the petition noted. Supreme Court judge Sanjiv Khanna recuses from considering review pleas on same-sex marriage Senior-most Supreme Court judge [Sanjiv Khanna on July 10 recused himself]( from considering pleas seeking review of the apex court’s judgement last year declining legal recognition to same-sex marriage, sources said. According to the sources, Justice Khanna has cited personal reasons for his recusal. The recusal of Justice Khanna would necessitate reconstitution of a fresh five-judge constitution bench by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud for considering the review pleas. The top court on July 9 had refused to allow open court hearing of pleas seeking review of its last year’s judgement. In a setback to gay rights activists, a five-judge constitution bench headed by Justice Chandrachud had on October 17 last year refused to accord legal backing to same-sex marriage, saying there was “no unqualified right” to marriage with the exception of those that are recognised by law. A five-judge bench comprising the CJI and justices Sanjiv Khanna, Hima Kohli, B. V. Nagarathna and P. S. Narasimha was scheduled to consider in chambers the pleas seeking review of the judgement. According to practice, the review pleas are considered in chambers by judges. In its judgement, the bench had held that transgender people in heterosexual relationships have the freedom and entitlement to marry under the existing statutory provisions. It had said an entitlement to legal recognition of the right to union, akin to marriage or civil union, or conferring legal status to the relationship can be only done through “enacted law”. The five-judge constitution bench headed by CJI Chandrachud had delivered four separate verdicts on a batch of 21 petitions seeking legal sanction for same-sex marriages. All five judges were unanimous in refusing to accord legal recognition to same-sex marriage under the Special Marriage Act and observed it was within Parliament’s ambit to change the law for validating such union. While the CJI had written a separate 247-page verdict, Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul (since retired) had penned a 17-page judgement in which he broadly agreed with Justice Chandrachud’s views. In Brief: 557 farmers ended lives in six months this year in Maharashtra’s Amravati: Govt report As many as [557 farmers have died by suicide]( in five districts under the Amravati administrative division of Maharashtra between January and June this year, an official report said. The five districts in the division are Amravati, Akola, Buldhana, Washim and Yavatmal. A report prepared by the Amravati divisional commissionerate said 557 farmers ended their lives in the division from January to June this year. The highest number of 170 suicides were recorded in Amravati district, followed by 150 in Yavatmal, 111 in Buldhana, 92 in Akola and 34 in Washim. Delhi High Court lists ED’s plea against bail to Arvind Kejriwal for July 15 The Delhi High Court on July 10 [listed for July 15 the ED’s plea challenging bail granted to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal]( in the money-laundering case stemming from the alleged excise scam. The High Court had earlier stayed the trial court’s June 20 order by which Kejriwal was granted bail in the case. Justice Neena Bansal Krishna, who was scheduled to hear the plea, was informed by the counsel for the ED that they were served with Kejriwal’s reply to their petition only late Tuesday night (July 9) and the agency requires some time to file a rejoinder. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. 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