Shah Bano Begum (1913-1992) was an Indian Muslim woman who chose to fight against the brutality and discriminatory laws of a patriarchal society. In the mid-1980s, the famous Shah Bano case raised many important issues, including triple talaq and the Uniform Civil Code.
Wiki/Biography
Shah Bano Begum was born in Madhya Pradesh, India, in 1913 (died at age 79).
appearance
Height (approximately): 5′3″
Hair color: black
Eye color: hazel green
family
Shah Bano Begum was born into a Muslim family in Madhya Pradesh, India.
Parents and siblings
There is not much information about Shah Bano’s parents and siblings.
husband and children
Shah Bano Begum married Mohammed Ahmad Khan in 1932. Ahmed Khan is a lawyer based in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. The couple has five children, three sons and two daughters. Their sons’ names are Hamid Khan and Jameel, and their daughters’ names are Siddiqua and Fatima.
Siddiqua, daughter of Shah Bano
Shah Bano’s son Jamil
religion
Shah Bano Begum was a follower of Islam.
address
Shah Bano Begum lives in the Khajrana district of Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India.
Mohd.Ahmed Khan v Shah Bano Begum & Ors
Shah Bano married Ahmad Khan in 1932 and they had five children. However, after 14 years of marriage, in 1946, Khan married another woman, Halima Begum. Shah Bano and Halima lived together for a while, but eventually in 1975, Ahmed divorced her when Shah Bano was 62 years old and asked her to leave the home with their children. In April 1978, Ahmed stopped giving her a monthly allowance of Rs 200. Unable to support himself and his children, Shah Bano filed a criminal complaint under Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPc) against her husband in the Indore local court. , seeking maintenance of Rs 500 for himself and his children; Section 125 of the CrPc requires that a man shall maintain his wife during and after marriage if she is unable to support herself.
However, in November 1978, Ahmed irrevocably divorced Shah Bano (Talaq-e-bidet) under Islamic law, stating that she was no longer his wife and that he had no obligation to support her. However, in August 1979, a local court ruled in Shah Bano’s favor and ordered Ahmed to pay her alimony of Rs 25 per month. Shah Bano then filed a revision petition for increasing the amount in the Madhya Pradesh High Court. On July 1, 1979, the Madhya Pradesh High Court ruled in her favor and increased the alimony from Rs 25 to Rs 179 per month.
Shah Bano in an interview with the media
In 1981, Ahmed Khan appealed to the Supreme Court, claiming that he was no longer responsible for Shah Bano and that India’s Muslim personal law (Shariat) only required him to provide alimony during the period of iddat (Iddat is a period in which a woman lives under the rule of law). The waiting period that must be observed after the husband’s death or divorce before remarrying. The length of the iddat period varies on a case-by-case basis, usually three months, or until delivery if the woman is pregnant.
All India Muslim Personal Law Board logo
The All India Muslim Personal Law Board supported Khan’s contention, stating that courts cannot interfere in matters governed by Muslim personal law and that this would be contrary to the Muslim Personal Law (Sharia) Application Act, 1937. Under the bill, courts should give them Sharia law-based decisions on divorce, alimony and other family matters. A 2-judge bench referred the case to a larger bench of 5-judge bench; a 5-judge bench consisting of Chief Justice YV Chandrachud, Justices Ranganath Misra, DA Desai, O. Chinnappa Reddy and ES Venkataramiah upheld the High Court Judgment, a maintenance order was issued to Shah Bano under Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and the amount of maintenance was increased.
Justice YV Chandrachud
Justice YV Chandrachud said in his judgment,
Section 125 was enacted to provide quick and easy remedy to a class of people who are unable to maintain their livelihood. So what difference does it make about the religion of a neglected wife, child, or parent? Neglect of a person who has sufficient means to maintain these and the inability of such persons to maintain themselves are objective criteria for determining the applicability of Article 125. These provisions are preventive in nature and cut across religious barriers. The duty to support poor close relatives under Article 125 is based on the individual’s obligation to society to prevent vagrancy and poverty. This is the moral decree of the law, and morality cannot be confused with religion. ”
A news article in The Times of India published the Shah Bano verdict
The Supreme Court’s statement caused confusion among the Muslim community.
Muslims protest after Shahbano verdict
In 1984, Rajiv Gandhi became Prime Minister after the assassination of his mother Indira Gandhi. Under pressure from Muslim hardliners, Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi enacted a law in Parliament to appease Muslims and overturned the Supreme Court’s verdict in the Shah Bano case. The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986 diluted the Supreme Court judgment and allowed divorced women to receive alimony only during the iddat period, i.e. 90 days after divorce.
In 1986, Rajiv Gandhi called Shah Bano to meet him in Delhi. Shahbano’s son Jamil recalled the meeting in an interview and said:
” Pradhan Mantri Ji said that the situation is very critical and serious. We have to find a way. I told him (I later read the Shariah directives on marriage and alimony) that apart from what is paid during iddat and mehr There was no alimony clause other than the money (money paid in the divorce). I told him the law should be changed. In turn, he asked us to declare our refusal to uphold it.”
Indore DM Ajit Singh joins Shah Bano to inform her about Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s invitation
After this meeting, Shah Bano refused to accept the repair money. She held a meeting in Indore and said,
I think if we don’t look back now, azaab (sorrow) will befall us. Since this is a religious issue, I don’t want us to set a precedent. “
die
Shah Bano suffered from high blood pressure and was often sick. In 1992, she died of a cerebral hemorrhage.
Facts/Trivia
- Shah Bano Begum was the cousin of Mohmmed Ahmad Khan.
- After the enactment of the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986, the number of triple talaq cases increased manifold between 1986 and 2019. According to the data, 22,801 triple talaq cases were registered in Madhya Pradesh and 51,800 triple talaq cases were registered in West Bengal. After triple talaq was declared illegal in 2019, the number of such cases dropped to 29 and 200 in Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal respectively.
- Ahmed Khan’s second wife Halima Begum is his cousin.
- Ahmad Khan holds a law degree from the University of Bahrain and has practiced law before the High Court and Supreme Court.
- Shah Bano’s two daughters, Siddiqua and Fatima, were married at the time of the divorce.
- In the Sabano case, the Supreme Court ruled that the government should strive to implement the Uniform Civil Code, an ideal goal mentioned in Article 44 of the Directive Principles of National Policy, and the issue of the Uniform Civil Code came into focus. The Supreme Court also raised the issue of the Uniform Civil Code in the Sarla Mudgal case (1995) and Paulo Coutinho v. Maria Luiza Valentina Pereira (2019).
- The Uniform Civil Code seeks to replace personal laws on marriage, divorce, adoption and inheritance based on religion, customs and traditions with common law applicable to everyone irrespective of religion, caste, creed, sexual orientation and gender.
- In 2019, the Shah Bano case played a crucial role in the passage of the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2019, which outlawed triple talaq (talaq-e-bidet).
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education