Amidst all the hoopla surrounding the UCC, many Muslim women in India remain unsure on which side they stand. On the one hand, Muslim personal law ordains certain practices that have proved to be derogatory for the rights of women; on the other hand, the ruling party has not been able to instil confidence in India’s Muslim population. However, one thing is clear: gender justice cannot be achieved through personal laws, especially in the case of Muslim women. Muslim personal law, as followed in India, is inherently biased against women and many times leads to their exploitation. Moreover, because of the application of personal law in the matters of marriage, divorce, maintenance, inheritance and the like, Muslim women are precluded from enjoying the benefits accrued to them through secular law, which their counterparts from other religious communities enjoy.
Maintenance
The best example to understand the predicament that surrounds the rights of women under Muslim personal law is maintenance. The Shah Bano case and its aftermath very aptly illustrated the problem arising due to the lack of a UCC in India. The question before the court in Shah Bano was whether a Muslim woman is entitled to claim maintenance under section 125 of the Criminal Penal Code (or secular law) from her former husband even after the period of iddat has expired. The husband claimed that he did not need to pay maintenance any longer as Muslim law stipulates that maintenance must only be paid during the period of iddat and not beyond it. The court, taking a secular view, allowed Shah Bano to claim maintenance even after this period.
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