How did the Supreme Court rule in the Shah Bano case?
1) In favour of the woman.
2) In favour of the husband.
3) The case was dismissed.
4) The case was referred to a lower court.
Choose the correct answer from the given options:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option 1 - 1 (In favour of the woman.)
The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the divorced Muslim woman, Shah Bano, in her claim for maintenance.
Two developments around 1986 became central to the politics of BJP. The first was the Shah Bano case in 1985. In this case a 62 year old divorced Muslim woman, had filed a case for maintenance from her former husband. The Supreme Court ruled in favour of Shah Bano. The orthodox Muslims saw the Supreme Court’s order as an interference in Muslim Personal Law. On the demand of some Muslim leaders, the government passed the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986 that nullified the Supreme Court’s judgement. This action of the government was opposed by many women’s organisations, many Muslim groups and most of the intellectuals. The BJP criticised this action of the Congress government as an unnecessary concession and ‘appeasement’ of the minority community.