A poor Muslim woman called Shah Bano Begum was given triple talaq by her husband, Mohammad Ahmed Khan.
She claimed maintenance from her husband.
In the year 1985, the Supreme Court gave the judgment in her favor.
The Supreme Court also directed the Indian government that it must prepare a Uniform Civil Code, so that all Indians can follow similar laws irrespective of religion and caste.
Indira Gandhi was assassinated in the year 1984 just before the general elections. The Congress party of Rajiv Gandhi came pact to power with a brute majority of around 80% in the Indian parliament.
Instead of utilizing this brute majority to frame the uniform civil code and modernize India, Rajiv Gandhi most shamelessly succumbed to the pressure from Muslims and amended the Muslim personal law to curtail the right of a Muslim woman for maintenance.
This case is famously known as the Shah Bano case.
This is an ugly example of minority appeasement politics and vote bank politics of Congress party.
