In a rare order, a Delhi court recently directed a man to pay his ex-wife, Salma, Rs 9 lakh in maintenance along with money worth 20 tolas of gold, after she approached court under the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986. Enacted in the wake of the row over the Supreme Court judgment in the Shah Bano case, the law is little known and so hardly ever used by Muslim women. UTKARSH ANAND looks at the law, the circumstances in which it came into being, and its provisions:

When and how was the Act enacted?

The Act was enacted in 1986 in the wake of the Supreme Court’s judgment in the Shah Bano case, whereby the apex court ruled that even a Muslim woman was entitled to receive alimony under the general provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), like anybody else. While the judgment was not the first granting a divorced Muslim woman maintenance under the CrPC, it was the first in which the Supreme Court referred to Muslim personal laws in detail. Many Muslim clerics saw the judgment as an encroachment on the right of Muslims to be governed by their personal laws. Following severe protests from various Muslim community leaders, the Rajiv Gandhi government got the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act passed in Parliament, with absolute majority. Rajiv drew much criticism over the move, with the Opposition calling it another act of “appeasement” towards the minority community by the Congress.

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