One of the most landmark cases in the history of India, pertaining to Muslim women, was the Shah Bano. This case introduced an ever-standing conflict between what should and should not come under the adjudication of the Supreme Court of India.

Facts of the case

Shah Bano Begum, a Muslim woman, was divorced by her husband, Mohd. Ahmed Khan, by virtue of the Triple Talaq system. The issue that came up, was that Ms Bano had claimed maintenance under the Code of Criminal Procedure, rather than as per the personal laws. The personal laws of Islam state that a woman may be given maintenance for the ‘iddat’ period, i.e., a period of three menstrual cycles, along with the ‘mehr’, i.e., the money promised to the bride, at the time of marriage. Beyond these two, there is hardly any legally enforceable way of maintaining the woman for life. The Indian law, on the other hand, provides for maintenance for life, barring some exceptions.

Held

The plaintiff and the defendant being Muslims, were to be governed by the Muslim Personal Law. However, since the petition was filed under the Code of Criminal Procedure, the district court, the High Court and the Supreme Court passed their judgements, favouring Ms Shah Bano. However, this judgement was opposed by the AIMPLB, as they claimed that adjudication of Personal laws were beyond the jurisdiction of the courts.The Shah Bano Case had received a lot of varied public stances. Muslim women vehemently defended the Supreme Court judgement of husbands having to maintain the wife.

The then government had passed a legislation, termed as ‘The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce), 1986’, and aimed to overturn the judgement of the Supreme Court. According to this legislation, Muslim women were entitled to a ‘fair and just’ amount of money within the ‘iddat’ period, beyond which, the husband was to have no liability.