Suparn S Varma to make courtroom drama on Shah Bano case

Filmmaker Suparn S Varma, best known for making courtroom dramas like The Trial and Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai, is now set to helm a film based on the court case of Shah Bano Begum.

Suparn has locked the script and is in the process of finalising the cast and crew.

More details regarding the project are awaited.

The Mohd. Ahmad Khan vs. Shah Bano Begum & Ors. or the Shah Bano maintenance case has been considered one of the legal milestones in the battle for the protection of the rights of Muslim women in India.

In 1978, Shah Bano filed a petition in a court in Indore, demanding maintenance from her divorced husband Mohammed Ahmad Khan, a well-known lawyer. The two had married in 1932 and had five children--three sons and two daughters.

Shah Bano's claim was premised under Section 123 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, which stipulates that a man will have to provide for his wife during the marriage and after divorce if she cannot sustain herself financially on her own.

However, Khan contested the claim on the grounds that the Muslim Personal Law in India required the husband to only provide maintenance for the iddat period after divorce.

After a couple of years, the decision was passed by the Supreme Court of India in 1985. On the question of whether CrPC, 1973, which applies to all Indian citizens regardless of their religion, could apply in this case.