New Delhi:
In 1985, the Supreme Court gave a historic verdict in the case of Mohammad Ahmed Khan vs Shah Bano Begum, which has now completed 40 years. This decision has been one of the most talked about and controversial judicial decisions in India. Uniform Civil Code. Waqf Board. Triple divorce. Shah Bano These are not just headlines. These are echo of the era when a court case became a storm of public opinion, the country’s secularism was a test of secularism, which gave rise to a long debate: equality vs. identity.
There are reports that Shah Bano is becoming a powerful feature film inspired by the case and other such cases, which is being directed by Suparna Verma. The film stars Yami Gautam and Emraan Hashmi in the lead roles, and according to sources, its shooting has recently been completed in Lucknow. The film is considered to be the next big theatrical release after Yami’s ‘Article 370’, which will show deeply to the human aspect of legal battles and their national influence.
In 1978, the 62 -year -old Shah Bano’s mother knocked on the Supreme Court under Section 125 CRPC for a living allowance after her lawyer husband Mohammad Ahmed Khan gave a triple divorce. Her husband refused to give any allowance after just three months of Idtat, citing Muslim personal law.
After a seven -year long legal battle, in 1985 the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Shah Bano, and said that Section 125 applies to all citizens, cannot be discriminated against on the basis of religion and it is her constitutional right to receive alimony to a divorced woman.
This decision led to opposition from conservative groups, due to which the Rajiv Gandhi government passed the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act in 1986, which reduced the edge of this decision. This episode again aroused the debate on vote bank politics, uniform civil code, and secularism, which remains relevant even today.
Leaders like Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah still quote the Shah Bano case as a decisive turn in the Uniform Civil Code and the debate of legal reforms. The voice of Shah Bano was once echoed in the corridors of the Supreme Court. Four decades later, the same voice is returning and this time, even more loud, and even more fearless on the big screen.