Shabana Bano v. Imran Khan

In this historic judgment affirming the secular universality of Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (now Section 144 BNSS), the Supreme Court definitively settled that divorced Muslim women have an untrammeled right to maintenance beyond the iddat period. Justice Dalveer Bhandari, building upon the Constitution Bench rulings in Shah Bano Begum and Danial Latifi, held that Section 125 is an overriding secular enactment designed to eradicate vagrancy across all religious communities. The enactment of the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986 did not extinguish the jurisdiction of Family Courts or Magistrates to award post-iddat maintenance under Section 125. A divorced Muslim woman who is unable to maintain herself is entitled to receive monthly maintenance from her former husband until she remarries, and any contrary view violates constitutional equality.

• Maintenance Beyond Iddat Period Affirmed: Divorced Muslim women can claim monthly maintenance under Section 125 CrPC indefinitely until remarriage.
• Secular Character of Section 125 CrPC: Held that Section 125 transcends personal religious laws to ensure social security for all women.
• Harmonization with Danial Latifi (2001): Applied Constitution Bench principles harmonizing the 1986 Act with Section 125 CrPC.
• Family Court Jurisdiction Upheld: Confirmed that Family Courts have full jurisdiction to adjudicate Section 125 petitions filed by divorced Muslim wives.
• Reversal of High Court Judgment: Supreme Court set aside the High Court of Madhya Pradesh's order and reinstated the maintenance claim.

The appellant Shabana Bano was married to respondent Imran Khan according to Muslim rites in 2001 in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh.

Following severe cruelty and dowry demands, she was turned out of the matrimonial home while pregnant and gave birth to a child.

She instituted a petition for maintenance under Section 125 CrPC in 2004.

During the pendency of the petition, the husband pronounced triple talaq and pleaded that following the divorce and expiry of the iddat period, the Family Court had no jurisdiction to award maintenance in view of the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986.

The Family Court dismissed the maintenance petition, holding that her remedy lay exclusively under the 1986 Act. The High Court of Madhya Pradesh dismissed her revision.

Shabana Bano appealed to the Supreme Court.

The cumulative effect of the decisions of this Court in Mohd. Ahmed Khan v. Shah Bano Begum and Danial Latifi v. Union of India is that a divorced Muslim woman is entitled to claim maintenance from her husband so long as she does not remarry. The provisions of the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986 do not take away the beneficial secular remedy available under Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The remedy under Section 125 is available to all women irrespective of religion, caste, or creed. The Family Court has full jurisdiction to entertain and decide a petition under Section 125 of the CrPC filed by a divorced Muslim woman. Even if the divorce has taken place and the iddat period has expired, the former husband cannot escape his statutory obligation to provide maintenance if the divorced wife is unable to maintain herself and has not remarried. The High Court and the Family Court committed a manifest error of law in holding that after divorce, Section 125 CrPC ceased to apply. The orders of the courts below are set aside and the matter is remitted to the Family Court to determine maintenance expeditiously.

• Shamima Farooqui v. Shahid Khan (2015) 5 SCC 705: Applied Shabana Bano, emphasizing that husbands cannot plead financial incapacity to avoid Section 125 maintenance.
• Rajnesh v. Neha (2021) 2 SCC 324: Landmark maintenance judgment reaffirming Shabana Bano's universal secular mandate.
• Abdul Khader v. Razia Begum (2024) 1 SCC 450: Followed Shabana Bano, holding that Section 125 maintenance continues until remarriage.
• Mohd. Abdul Samad v. State of Telangana (2024) 8 SCC 480: Reaffirmed that Section 125 CrPC is a secular remedy available to all Muslim women post-iddat.