Danial Latifi v Union of India (2001)

Muslim Law (Family Law II) · Maintenance

Facts.

The constitutional validity of the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986 was challenged as depriving divorced women of maintenance.

Issue.

Does the 1986 Act limit a husband’s duty to the iddat period, and is it valid?

Held.

The Act is valid; section 3 requires the husband to make, within iddat, a reasonable and fair provision for the wife’s entire future, not merely for the iddat days.

Why it matters.

It reconciled the 1986 Act with Shah Bano and settled the modern law of divorced-woman maintenance.

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