Mohammed Ahmed Khan v. Shah Bano Begum

India did not have a uniform civil code applicable to all individuals. Instead, individuals belonging to certain religions could avail themselves of religion-specific personal laws. For example, Indians could choose to have a civil marriage under the Special Marriage Act 1954. When a civilly registered marriage ended in divorce, the husband could be required to pay maintenance to his former wife to ensure that she did not become indigent. If a couple did not register their marriage under the act, the personal laws of their religion would apply to the marriage and any subsequent divorce. Muslim personal law required that post-divorce, the former husband would pay maintenance to his ex-wife during iddat—the required three-month period that a divorced woman must wait to remarry. Mohammed Ahmed Khan (defendant) and Shah Bano Begum (plaintiff) were married Muslims living in India. Khan and Begum divorced. After the period of iddat ended, Begum, unable to support herself, became indigent. She filed a lawsuit against her former husband for maintenance, arguing that he should be required to provide financial support to her according to § 125 of the 1973 Code of Criminal Procedure (the code). Khan disagreed and insisted that his responsibility to provide maintenance to his former wife ended with the end of the iddat period, consistent with Muslim personal law. The local magistrate hearing the case ordered Khan to pay Rs. 25 per month for maintenance. Begum responded with a revisional application in the Madhya Pradesh High Court. The high court ordered Khan to pay Rs. 200 per month for maintenance. Khan appealed by special leave to the India Supreme Court. After two three-judge division bench panels reached inconsistent decisions and raised questions about the significance of the case, a constitutional bench made up of five supreme court justices heard Khan’s appeal.