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Forty years ago, the Supreme Court delivered a judgment that would become one of the most significant — and controversial — legal rulings in India’s constitutional history. The Mohd. Ahmad Khan v. Shah Bano Begum case (1985) affirmed the right of a divorced Muslim woman to claim maintenance under Section 125 of the CrPC, irrespective of religious personal law.
Shah Bano, a 62-year-old mother of five, had been divorced via triple talaq by her husband, a lawyer, who refused to pay her maintenance. Her fight went all the way to the Supreme Court, which ruled in her favor — a victory for gender justice that underscored the primacy of constitutional rights over personal law.
The verdict, however, sparked fierce backlash from conservative religious groups. In response, the government enacted the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986, effectively curbing the judgment’s impact and reigniting national debate around secularism, legal reform, and the Uniform Civil Code.
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