Lucknow: Atia Sabri, the woman who led the triple talaq battle in the Supreme Court, has kept the famous Shah Bano case alive, becoming the first divorced Muslim woman in India to get maintenance on the orders of a Saharanpur Family Court.
In his order on Atia’s petition, Justice Narendra Kumar IV of Saharanpur Family Court passed a historical order directing her husband to give Rs 7,000 each to Atia, her two minor daughters Sadia and Sana by 10th of every month without fail as maintenance.
Not only this, the court has also directed her husband to pay the above amount with effect from the date of filing the petition. Atia will now get an amount of Rs 13.44 lakh in addition to Rs 21,000 every month to raise her daughters and live comfortably after being given forcible divorce.
Atia was pronounced triple talaq by her husband Wajid Ali for bringing inadequate dowry and giving birth to two daughters. She had refused to accept the divorce and had filed a petition in the Saharanpur Court on March 24 2015 seeking to declare her divorce illegal and sought maintenance for her and two daughters.
After her petition, her husband and his family members were arrested. Later, she took her triple talaq battle to the Supreme Court along with others and won when the apex court declared triple talaq illegal.
She, however, continued her fight to get maintenance in Saharanpur Family Court. The victory came to her when the court allowed her plea on March 22, 2021 to get maintenance.
With this, Atia has become the first Muslim woman in the country to get maintenance after passing of the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019.
Shah Bano, the first Muslim woman in the country, who had petitioned in the Supreme Court for alimnoy in 1978, was denied maintenace by way of law even after winning the battle in the apex court in 1985.
Shah Bano may have died in 1992 but Atia kept her battle alive. She has now become a ray of hope for thousands of divorced Muslim women in the country who are forced to live in penury without being paid any maintenance or alimony for survival.
"I fought for my daughters and hundreds of Muslim women like me. I faced many odds but I believed in the Indian judicial system. I thank the Supreme Court and Family Court Judge Justice Narendra Kumar for coming to the rescue of thousands of women like me," reacted Atia Sabi in quavering voice, advising all divorced Muslim women to seek maintenance through court.
