Yami Gautam Dhar and Emraan Hashmi’s upcoming film Haq, a dramatised retelling of the landmark ­­Shah Bano case, has landed in legal trouble just ahead of its release.

Siddiqua Begum, daughter and legal heir of the late Shah Bano, has issued a legal notice (a copy of which is with HT City) to the Central Board of Film Certification, director Suparn S Varma, Junglee Pictures and Baweja Studios, citing multiple violations and demanding certification be withheld or revoked.

In the notice, Siddiqua alleges that Haq represents an unauthorised use, distortion, and commercialisation of Shah Bano’s private life, infringing on her mother’s rights to dignity and privacy. She has framed her claims under Article 21 (right to privacy and dignity), defamation, personality/publicity rights, and copyright/moral rights under Sections 57 and 63 of the Copyright Act, 1957.

The film, which features Yami in the lead role and Emraan as her husband, was filmed in parts of Lucknow, including Kakori and Sandila, and is said to revisit the 1985 Supreme Court verdict. In 1978, Shah Bano, a Muslim woman, was divorced through triple talaq by her husband and later filed for maintenance under Section 125 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

The Supreme Court ruled in her favour in 1985, affirming that Muslim women could claim maintenance beyond the iddat period, a decision that stirred political backlash and led to the enactment of the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986, which diluted the verdict’s reach.

As of now, the film’s makers have not responded publicly to the legal notice.