The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019 deals with subsistence allowance in which of the following Sections?

Correct — B. Section 5 of the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019 is the subsistence-allowance provision.

It entitles a married Muslim woman upon whom talaq is pronounced to a subsistence allowance for herself and her dependent children, in an amount the Magistrate determines.

The Act is short and each section does one job, so the neighbours are easy to place — and none of them provides maintenance. Option (b) is the section that does.

Why the others are wrong

• (a)
  Section 7 — Section 7 is procedural. It makes the offence cognizable when information is given by the woman or a relative by blood or marriage, and compoundable at her instance. No money is dealt with there.
• (c)
  Section 4 — Section 4 is the punishment clause — imprisonment which may extend to three years, and a fine, for a husband who pronounces talaq. It punishes, it does not provide.
• (d)
  Section 6 — Section 6 gives the woman custody of her minor children, in the manner the Magistrate determines. It is the section immediately after the right answer, and the near-miss the paper is fishing for.

The 2019 Act followed the Supreme Court's 2017 Shayara Bano ruling, which held instant triple talaq void. The Act went further and made the pronouncement a criminal offence.

Its operative sections read as a short sequence. Section 3 declares talaq void and illegal. Section 4 punishes the husband. Section 5 provides the subsistence allowance. Section 6 gives custody of minor children. Section 7 sets out how the offence is tried.

SSC asks for the section number, so it is the sequence, not the debate around the Act, that you memorise.

Key facts

• Section 5 entitles the woman and her dependent children to a subsistence allowance determined by the Magistrate.
• Section 4 prescribes imprisonment which may extend to three years, and a fine.
• Section 6 provides for the custody of minor children, as the Magistrate determines.
• The Act followed Shayara Bano v. Union of India (2017), in which the Supreme Court held instant triple talaq void.

Common traps

• Picking Section 4, the punishment clause, when the question asks about money.
• Confusing custody under Section 6 with the allowance under Section 5.

No directly related past PYQ was found.