The Shah Bano case, fully titled Mohd. Ahmed Khan v. Shah Bano Begum case of 1985 is one of India's landmark cases. Much more than a precedent by which the Muslim personal law in India would be decided, this case stirred nationwide debate related to various issues like Muslim women's rights, the position of religion in India's law and order system, and how personal laws relate to the Indian Constitution. The case came up when one Shah Bano Begum, a 62-year-old Muslim woman, approached the Supreme Court of India with a petition for maintenance against her former husband, Mohd. Ahmed Khan who had given her divorced through triple talaq. In the Muslim personal law, ruling over their marriage, a divorced woman is allowed maintenance only during the iddat period. After this period, he is under no obligation to provide for her maintenance. Shah Bano, however now left without any means of subsistence, sought redress under Section 125 of the Criminal Procedure Code which applies irrespective of religion, that is, on all citizens. Section 125 lays down that every husband is bound to maintain his wife if she is unable to maintain herself. The case went as far as the Supreme Court, wherein it was essentially advanced whether Shah Bano was entitled to any maintenance beyond the iddat period under Section 125 of the CrPC or her claim should be washed away in preference to Muslim personal law. The judgment of the Supreme Court was in favor of Shah Bano, and it held that Section 125 of the CrPC is a criminal law; it has overriding effect over personal law. The judgment was hailed as a great victory for the women's movement and a very progressive judgment which interpreted the law in the spirit of justice and equality enshrined in the Constitution of India. The judgment also provoked a scathing reaction from groups of conservative Muslims who believed that the judgment infringed on their Personal Law and religious practice. What started as a local dispute escalated into a national debate about how far the state is allowed to go in interfering with religion. Due to public protests, the then (Indian) government led by Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi enacted the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986. For a Muslim husband, paying for the renewal is the easiest way. You have to spend time during iddah and pay according to Islamic law which highlighted the growing issue of non-civil rights as well as legal rights. In Indian law, the Single Civil Code continues to be mentioned in discussions on women's rights and secular persons.