Kerala's new guv quit Rajiv govt in protest against triple talaq

Kerala’s new governor Arif Mohammed Khan, whose appointment was announced on Sunday (September 1) is famously known as the minister who had quit the Rajiv Gandhi government in 1985 in protest against the enactment of a law to nullify the Supreme Court verdict in the Shah Bano case.

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Khan, who will succeed former Chief Justice of India Palanisamy Sathasivam in the Kerala Raj Bhavan, has been a vocal critic of the practice of instant triple talaq who has been asking for implementation of reforms in the Muslim personal laws for long.

Khan’s speech in Parliament in 1985 in the wake of the Shah Bano judgement extending the Rajiv Gandhi government’s initial support to it was much acclaimed.

However, when the Rajiv Gandhi government made a U-turn under alleged pressure from Muslim clerics and brought a bill to nullify the Supreme Court order, he resigned from the ministry.

The Uttar Pradesh politician later joined the BJP but remained inactive since 2007.

Recently, when the Modi government brought a bill to criminalise the practice of instant triple talaq, Khan supported it.

In the Shah Bano case, the Supreme Court had delivered a judgment favouring maintenance given to an aggrieved divorced Muslim woman.

“The above appointments will take effect from the dates they assume charge of their respective offices,” the Rashtrapati Bhavan communique said.