By IANS,
New Delhi : The Delhi High Court Wednesday appointed an amicus curiae (friend of court) to decide whether a Muslim woman is entitled for maintenance even after divorce.
Justice Geeta Mittal appointed advocate Nazmi Waziri, an expert on Islamic law, and asked him to examine the case.
The case deals with Mohammed Azam Ansari, a sergeant with the Indian Air Force (IAF), who married Fatima Khatoon in 1999. The couple had a baby but their marriage came apart and they got divorced in 2001.
Soon after Fatima moved a Patna court seeking maintenance and also moved a petition before the IAF authorities.
Accepting the plea, the IAF started deducting the salary of Ansari and started paying Fatima, despite the matter being subjudice in another court.
Fatima’s plea in the Patna court was rejected after she failed to appear regularly.
Ansari challenged the IAF order in the high court stating that under the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce 1986) Act, Muslim women cannot be granted maintenance after divorce.
He also pleaded that the case cannot be tried in a military court.