From Shah Bano to Shayara Bano: Developing the Rights of Muslim Women

Abstract

The present paper highlights the development and changes that have happened in the rights of the women belonging to the Muslim religion. The concern of the paper is the rights of Muslim women in terms of marriage and divorce primarily. We have attempted to trace the historical developments by focusing on the Quranic aspects of the same, and then the decision rendered by various courts along with the legislations have been examined. The reformatory nature of The Holy Quran and the logic behind the principle enshrined therein has been consistently highlighted throughout the paper. Excerpts and relevant discussions from the Constitutional Assembly debates have been considered in order to penetrate the fundamentals of the Constitution with respect to family law. The constitutional perspective of the Muslim personal law, consisting of rules relating to women along with the various criticisms faced by the same, has been addressed. The paper focuses on the era between the two historic judgments rendered by the Honorable Supreme Court of India in the cases of Mohd Ahmad Khan vs Shah Bano Begum and Shayara Bano vs Union of India. Various decisions on the subject were rendered by various subordinate courts during that crucial period. The paper first mentions the historical background to the rights and then begins to analyze the decision and its aftermath in a chronological order.