MP High Court petition seeks stay on film 'Haq' in Shah Bano case row

Indore: The Madhya Pradesh High Court on Tuesday heard a petition seeking stay on release of Hindi film ‘Haq’, said to be inspired by the famous Shah Bano case of the 1980s, on November 7 (Friday) on grounds of misrepresentation of events, and reserved its order.

The petition was filed in the HC’s Indore bench by Siddiqua Begum Khan, daughter of Shah Bano Begum, who is famous for her courageous legal battle up to the Supreme Court to get maintenance from her husband after he divorced her.

The plea claims the film, starring actors Yami Gautam Dhar and Emraan Hashmi in lead roles, has been made without her family’s consent and wrongly depicts incidents from her late mother’s private life.

During the hearing before Justice Pranay Verma, Khan’s lawyer Tousif Warsi cited the teaser and trailer of ‘Haq’ and argued the film portrays a distorted image of Shah Bano.

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This argument was rejected by lawyers representing companies involved in the film, who urged the single-judge bench to dismiss the petition.

The film is said to be inspired by the Shah Bano case, which resulted in a landmark Supreme Court judgment in 1985 regarding maintenance for Muslim women after divorce.

The list of respondents in the petition included the central government, the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), and ‘Haq’ director Suparn S Varma along with three private companies associated with the movie.

Justice Verma reserved his order on the petition after hearing detailed arguments from all parties involved.

Shah Bano, a resident of Indore, filed a case in a local court in 1978 to obtain maintenance from her lawyer-husband, Mohammed Ahmed Khan, after he divorced her.

Following Shah Bano’s long legal battle, the Supreme Court ruled in her favour in 1985. The verdict by a five-judge Constitution bench of the apex court ruled that Muslim women were also entitled to maintenance under the law.

After protests from Muslim organisations against the SC verdict, the Rajiv Gandhi government enacted the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act in 1986. This law effectively nullified the Supreme Court’s judgment in the Shah Bano case.

Shah Bano passed away in 1992.

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