Madhya Pradesh HC Rejects Shah Bano Begum’s Daughter’s Plea to Halt Haq Film Release

The Madhya Pradesh High Court has dismissed a petition filed by the daughter of Shah Bano Begum, seeking to stop the release of the Hindi film Haq. This film stars Yami Gautam and Emraan Hashmi in lead roles and draws inspiration from Shah Bano Begum's life and legal challenges.

Shah Bano Begum's landmark case in 1985 led to a significant Supreme Court ruling granting divorced Muslim women the right to maintenance. The court's decision now allows the film to release as planned.

Siddiqua Begum Khan, Shah Bano's daughter, claimed that the film was made without her family's consent, alleging it misrepresented personal aspects of her mother's life. However, Justice Pranay Verma of the Indore bench stated that privacy rights do not extend beyond a person's death.

The court argued that since the film is presented as a dramatization and adaptation, it enjoys a degree of creative leeway. It emphasized that the portrayal was not sensationalized or misleading.

Directed by Suparn S Verma, Haq is set to be released in theaters on November 7, 2025. The story revolves around Shah Bano's fight for justice after her divorce from an affluent lawyer, which resulted in a landmark maintenance ruling by the Supreme Court.