In Brief
The Supreme Court held that Section 7(c) of the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act 2019 does not bar the grant of anticipatory bail under Section 438 of the CrPC. The statutory provision merely requires that before granting bail, the court must hear the married Muslim woman who made the complaint and be satisfied that reasonable grounds exist for bail. The offence under the Act can only be committed by a Muslim man pronouncing talaq, not by relatives like a mother-in-law. The judgment allowed the appeal, granting anticipatory bail protection to the appellant subject to her filing a personal bond and cooperating with investigation.
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