2. "Ionly want to tell the other
women 'don't lose heart'. Just
find it in yourself to keep
fighting for your rights"
“death knell to Islamic identity in
India”
treat the Indian Republic Day a
“black day”
06
4. Criticism against Bill :
- The Bill wascriticised as sending destitute women"frompillar to post" in
search ofrelief.
-[TheBill]meansin effect that amancan marryand divorce at his sweet
will and pleasure asmanytimes ashe likes and get awaywithit every time
and if the womanfinds herself on the street, she can knock at anydoor for
relief but not that of the manprimarily responsible for her plight. A greater
concession to malechauvinismcannot be imagined.
The Political
Context
A.The Hindu-Sikh conflict in the Punjab
B.Ayodhya
5. Terms:
M E H R - A N A M O U N T G I V E N B Y T H E
B R I D E G R O O M T O T H E B R I D E A T
T H E T I M E O F M A R R I A G E
Prompt Mehr
Deferred Mehr
W A I T I N G P E R I O D
I D D A T - T H E
A W O M A N
A F T E R T H E
M U S T O B S E R V E
D E A T H O F H E R
H U S B A N D O R D I V O R C E
B E F O R E S H E C A N M A R R Y
A N O T H E R M A N
7. Timeline:
1 9 3 2 1 9 7 5 6 N O V
1978
AUG
1 9 7 9
1 9 8 0 3 FEB
1 9 8 1
1 9 7 8 23 FEB
1981
23 APRIL
1985
8. Panel:
LA R G ER B EN C H O F
CHIEF J U S T I C E Y. V.
C H A N D R A C H U D
J. R A N G N AT H
M I S R A
J. D. A. D E S A I
J. R E D D Y O.
C H I N N A P PA
J. E.S.
V E N K ATA R A M I A H
J. M U R TA Z A
FA Z A L ALI
J. A.
V A R A D A R A J A N
9. Issues
1. W H ET H ER T H ER E I S
A N Y C O N F L I C T
B ET W EEN S EC T I O N
1 2 5 OF THE C R P C ,
1 9 7 3 A N D THE M U S L I M
P E R S O N A L L A W W I T H
R ES P EC T T O PA Y M EN T
OF M A I N T E N A N C E ?
2 . W H E T H E R AFTER
T H E P R O N O U N C EM EN T
OF TA L A Q A N D THE
I D D AT P E RI O D , A
M U S LI M M A R R I ED
W O M A N C EA S ES T O
BE A W I F E ?
3 . W H E T H E R S E C T I O N 127
OF THE C R P C R E A D W I T H
S E C T I O N 2 OF THE
S H A R I AT A C T, 1 9 3 7
A P P L I E S TO THE C E A S I N G
OF PAY M E N T OF
M A I N T E N A N C E TO A
D I V O R C E D W I F E AFTER
THE I D D AT P E R I O D , O N C E
THE M A H R O R D O W E R IS
PA I D ?
-BY RUKAIYA BOHRA
10. Arguments by
KHAN
He argued, he had already paid her Rs. 200
per month by way of maintenance for the
previous two years
Khan argued that since under Muslim personal
law a divorced woman is entitled to
maintenance only during the period of iddat,
he could not be ordered to pay maintenance
to Shah Bano beyond that period
11. Whether a sum of pittance paid
during the period of iddat was
sufficient ?
C R I T I C A L
Q U ES T I O N S
J ANUARY
20 20
The mere fact that [the husband] has paid
something, no matter how little, absolves
him forever from the duty of paying
adequately so as to enable her to keep her
body and soul together?
If there was any provision in MPLs,
that state that a sum is payable to a
wife “on divorce"
The applicability of section 125 to
Muslim women?
sections 125 and 127, defined the term wife and
explained how section 125 had been amended in
the past to include divorced women
(i) Upon the pronouncement of talaq and expiry of the
iddat period, a divorced wife ceases to be a wife?
ii) Any conflict between the provisions of section 125
and that of MPLs on the liability of a Muslim man to
provide maintenance to his divorced wife
iii) Whether section 127 debarred the payment of
maintenance to a divorced wife, once mahr is paid
and therefore if the Muslim male is liable to maintain
his divorced wife only for the iddat period
12. AYATS
FOR D I V O R C E D W O M E N
M A I N T E N A N C E ( S H O U L D
BE P R O V I D E D ) O N A
R E A S O N A B L E (SCALE)
T H I S IS A D U T Y O N THE
R I G H T E O U S
T H U S D O T H G O D M A K E
C L E A R HIS S I G N S TO
Y O U : IN O R D E R T H AT
Y O U M AY U N D E R S TA N D
2 4 0
TO
2 4 2
13. MEHR
Divorce may be a convenient or identifiable point of time at which the deferred
amount has to be paid by the husband to the wife. But, the payment of the
amount is not occasioned by the divorce, which is what is meant by the
expression `on divorce', which occurs in section 127(3)(b) of the Code. If mehr is
an amount which the wife is entitled to receive from the husband in
consideration of the marriage, that is the very opposite of the amount being
payable in consideration of divorce
14. Section 125
Crpc
(a)his wife,unable to maintain
herself,... A magistrate of the
First Class may,uponproof of
such neglect or refusal, order
such a person to make a
monthly allowance for the
maintenance of his wife...at
such monthly rate not
exceeding five hundred
rupees in the whole, as such
Magistrate thinksfit.
Section 2
Shariat Act
which talks about the
applicability of the Act to the
Muslims. If the parties to the
case are Muslims, the
decision shall be madebased
on Muslim Personallaw.
15. Section 127(3)(b)
127.(3)Where anyorder has been under section 125in favour of awoman
who has been divorced by,or has obtained adivorce from, her husband,
the Magistrate shall, if he is satisfied that— (b)the woman has been
divorced by her husband and that she has received, whether before or
after the date of the said order
, the whole of the sum which, under any
customary or personal lawapplicable to the parties, waspayable on such
divorce, cancel such order-
(i)inthe case where such sumwaspaid before such order
,from the date
on which such order wasmade.
(ii)inanyother case, from the date of expiry of the period, if any,for which
maintenance has been actually paid by the husband to the woman.
16. Cases Cited
i ) B a i Ta h i r a v. A l i H u s s a i n F i d a l l i C h o t h i a
i i ) F a z l u n b i v. K K h a d e r Va l i
Term 'WIFE '
By clause (b) of the Explanation to section 125(1), 'wife' includes a
divorced woman who has not remarried. These provisions are too
clear and precise to admit of any doubt or refinement. The religion
professed by a spouse or by the spouses has no place in the
scheme of these provisions...Neglect by a person of sufficient means
to maintain these and the inability of these persons to maintain
themselves are the objective criteria which determine the
applicability of section 125
Held that the section applied to Muslims too
S.125 Apply ?
17. The new law therefore shifted the responsibility of supporting a divorced
woman from her ex-husband to her family. Sentiments towards the new law
were mixed, with the Muslim Orthodoxy welcoming it, in view of it having
effectively overwritten the SC’s verdict in the Shah Bano case. The more
moderate and liberal 35 voices, however, felt that it was a terrible move that
would prove to be a huge set-back for Muslim women
Af t er mat h :
Gandhi passed the Muslim
Women Protection Act, 1986
The Muslim orthodoxy went ballistic. They saidthis
was an interference in their personal laws and the
practice of their religion and culture. There were
widespread protests in the country.
- BY RUKAIYA BOHRA
18. Uniform Civil
Code
Woulda Uniform CivilCodeadvance gender equality?
Yes –if womencan claim their equal rights.To do so,they need
economic autonomyandpublic safety.
20. “It is also a
matter of
regret that
Article 44 of
our
Constitution
has remained a
dead letter.”
A R T I C L E 4 4
"The State shall endeavour
to secure for the citizens
a Uniform Civil Code
throughout the territory
of India."
21. Thank you!
The existence of personal lawsthat override
the Constitution of the land, carries in it the
seeds of social andgender discord. The time
hascome to rewrite history.
