The Madhya Pradesh High Court has rejected a petition filed by Siddiqua Begum Khan, daughter of Shah Bano Begum, seeking to stop the release of the Hindi film *Haq*. The movie, starring Yami Gautam Dhar and Emraan Hashmi, draws inspiration from the landmark 1985 Shah Bano case that granted divorced Muslim women the right to maintenance. Siddiqua argued that the film was made without family consent and misrepresented her late mother's life, exploiting her privacy and personality commercially. Justice Pranay Verma of the Indore bench dismissed these claims, stating that privacy and reputation do not survive death and cannot be inherited like property. The court noted that the film includes a disclaimer stating it is a dramatization and fictional adaptation, allowing creative leeway. Directed by Suparn S Verma, *Haq* is scheduled for theatrical release on November 7.
Court Ruling and the Shah Bano Case Background
Justice Pranay Verma ruled that privacy or reputation earned during a person's lifetime extinguishes upon death and cannot be inherited. The court emphasized that since the film carries a disclaimer describing it as dramatization and fictional adaptation inspired by a Supreme Court judgment, the content cannot be deemed fabricated. The 1985 Shah Bano case became a watershed moment in Indian legal history. Shah Bano, then 62, filed for maintenance from her divorced husband, Mohammed Ahmed Khan, a prominent lawyer, in 1978. The Supreme Court ruled in her favor under Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. However, the Rajiv Gandhi government passed legislation in 1986 that effectively overturned the verdict. The couple had married in 1932 and had five children together.
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