Writer-director Suparn S. Varma, who is known for ‘The Family Man’, ‘Rana Naidu’ and ‘The Trial’, is set to helm a film based on the court case of Shah Bano Begum.
The Shah Bano Begum vs Mohd. Ahmad Khan case, commonly known as the Shah Bano Begum case, is considered as a landmark case in Independent India.
Suparn has locked the script and is in the process of finalising the cast and crew.
Shah Bano Begum, who was from Indore, Madhya Pradesh, was divorced by her husband in 1978. She filed a criminal suit in the Supreme Court, in which she won the right to alimony from her husband.
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However, the verdict triggered criticism from some Muslim politicians as they mounted a campaign for the verdict's nullification. Some Muslim leaders cited the Qur'an to show that the judgement was in conflict with Islamic law. It triggered controversy about the extent of having different civil codes for different religions in India.
The then Congress government, with its absolute majority, passed the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986, which diluted the judgement of the Supreme Court as it restricted the right of Muslim divorcees to alimony from their former husbands for only 90 days after the divorce.
