PRESTIGE INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT AND

RESEARCH,INDORE

DEPARTMENT OF LAW

THE SHAH BANO CASE

PRESENTED BY- ARHUM KHAN

PRESENTED TO- PROF. RUPALI RATHORE

 BACKGROUND
In India we have different personal laws governing each
community like Muslim Laws are governed by their own
Personal laws, Hindu Laws are governed by the Hindu
Marriage Act, Hindu Succession Act. The personal laws
govern Marriage, Succession, Adoption, Divorce. etc.

These personal laws are not penalizing in nature. For eg,

Adultery becomes a ground of divorce and Judicial
Separation. But if you want your husband to be punished
for adultery, you have to resort IPC ( Indian Penal Codes).
Personal Laws are also called Family laws.
 UNDERSTANDING THE
CASE
Shah Bano married Ahmad Khan (advocate) 1932
Children- 3 sons & 2 daughters
After 14 years he married a younger woman
In 1975 Ahmad khan drove her out of the matrimonial
home . Her age was 62 years.
She filed a petition for maintenance inApril1978
undersection 125 Cr.P.Cbecause he had stopped giving
hermaintenance of Rs 200 which he had promised.
Basically u/s125 Cr.P.C -A wife who is without any
income, has no source of income and is neglected by her
husband is entitled to maintenance, which includes a
divorced wife who is not remarried.
CONTINUED.
On November 1978 her husband gave an
irrevocabletalaq(divorce) to her and took up the
defence that since Bano had ceased to be his wife so he
was under no obligation to provide maintenance for her.
The Magistrate court directed Khan to pay Rs 25 per
month to Shah Bano.
This amount was enhanced by therevisional application
to High Court in Madhya Pradesh for Rs 179.20
Ahmed Khan however approached against the judgment
to Supreme Court. His main contention being thatafter
divorce any form of relation with his divorced wife is
Haram and against Islam thus he is not liable to
maintain her.
 JUDGEMENT
On 3 February 1981, the two judge bench first heard the
matter, in light of the earlier decisions of the court
which had held thatsection 125 of the Code applies to
Muslims also, referred Khan's appeal to a larger Bench.

Muslim bodieslike All India Muslim Personal Law

BoardandJamiatUlema-e-Hind joined the case as
intervener.

On 23 April 1985, Supreme Court in a unanimous

decision, dismissed the appeal and confirmed the
judgment of the High Court.

This was a historic Judgment which reinforces your faith

in Judiciary where Justice comes before Religion,
Equality comes before religion, Righteousness comes
Supreme Court concluded that "there is no
conflict between the provisions of section 125
and those of the Muslim Personal Law on the
question of the Muslim husband's obligation to
provide maintenance for a divorced wife who is
unable to maintain herself." After referring to
the Holy Quran, holding it to the greatest
authority on the subject, it held that there was
no doubt that the Quran imposes an obligation
on the Muslim husband to make provision for
or to provide maintenance to the divorced
wife.
VOLUBLE ORTHODOXY DEEMED THE VERDICT AS AN ATTACK ON ISLAM.
MUSLIMS TOOK TO STREETS, THEY FELT THREATENED !
 THE DIRTY POLITICS PLAYED
In theIndian general election, 1984, Indian National Congress
had won absolute majority in the Indian parliament

After theShah Banojudgment, there was uproar in the Muslim

community, fearing that the Congress will face decimation in
the polls, Congress headed by the then prime ministerRajiv
Gandhi enacted an act titled The Muslim Women(Protection of
Rights on Divorce) Act 1986 that nullified the Supreme Court's
judgment in theShah Banojudgment.
CONTINUED.
Diluting the Supreme Court judgment,the act allowed
maintenance to a divorced woman only during the
period of iddat, or till 90 days after the divorce,
according to the provisions of Islamic law.

This was in stark contrast to Section 125 of the Code.

The 'liability' of husband to pay the maintenance was
thus restricted to the period of the iddat only."
 SHAH BANO CASE-A WATERSHED MOMENT

While the achievements of the Shah Bano Case were

diluted, it continues to remain a watershed moment
because :-

The judgment definitelymainstreamed the discourse on

the pitiful condition of Indian women.Maintenance is
the tip of the iceberg for there remain many other
provision in the statute books, which discriminate
against women.

While, the judgement was concerned with the rights of

Muslim women in particular, itstrengthened Women's
movementsof all hues fighting for justice and equality.

In fact, ittriggered introspection in many other

personal laws.
CONTINUED..
The subsequentruling of the SC in Daniel Latifiand Shamima
Farooqui versus Shahid Khan case which harmoniously
constructed Muslim women's right to maintenance under Cr.P.C
and Shariah, drew strength from the observations of the Court in
Shah Bano.

Most importantly, the saidcase highlighted the need for the

enactment of the Uniform Civil Code, as propounded under A. 44
of the Constitution.

On the flipside, the Shah Bano judgment gave impetus to the

forces of communalism in India. While the ruling was opposed by
the certain sections among Muslims, the subsequent law was
seen as a means of appeasement by section among the Hindus.
As a consequence,the debate over UCC has become divisive and
communally charged.
THANK YOU