MP HC allows release of Shah Bano-inspired film Haq

The Madhya Pradesh High Court has dismissed a petition filed by Siddiqua Begum Khan, daughter of Shah Bano Begum, against the release of the Hindi film Haq. The film, starring Yami Gautam Dhar and Emraan Hashmi, is inspired by Shah Bano’s life and her landmark 1985 legal struggle, which granted divorced Muslim women the right to maintenance.

Siddiqua Begum Khan had requested a stay on the release, arguing that the film was made without family consent and misrepresented personal aspects of her late mother’s life. She claimed it commercially exploited her mother’s privacy and personality.

Justice Pranay Verma of the Indore bench rejected these claims, stating, “Privacy or reputation earned by a person during his or her lifetime extinguishes with his or her death. It cannot be inherited like a movable or immovable property.”

The Court added, “Since the disclaimer itself states that the same is dramatization and is fictional and an adaptation of a book and is inspired by a judgment of the Apex Court, it cannot be said that the contents of the film are fabricated. Since the film is an inspiration and a fiction, some amount of leeway is certainly permissible and merely because the same is done, it cannot be said that there has been any sensationalization or false portrayal.”

Directed by Suparn S Verma, Haq is based on the landmark 1985 Shah Bano case concerning women’s rights and maintenance laws in India. Shah Bano, then 62, filed a petition in 1978 seeking maintenance from her divorced husband, Mohammed Ahmed Khan, a well-known lawyer. The Supreme Court ruled in her favor in 1985 under Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. However, the following year, legislation was passed that effectively nullified the verdict.

Haq is scheduled to release in theatres on November 7, 2025.