( 1 ) IN these petitions the questions which arise for determination are: (1)Whether by the enactment of the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act 1986 hereinafter referred to as the Muslim Women Act the orders passed by the Judicial Magistrate First Class under Sec. 125 of the Criminal Procecode ordering the husband to pay maintenance to the wife are nullified ? (2) Whether the Muslim Women Act takes away the rights which are conferred upon the divorced women under the Personal Law as interpreted by the Supreme Court in the case of Mohd. Ahmed Khan v. Shah Bano Begum AIR 1985 SC 945 ? (3) Whether the Muslim Women Act provides that a divorced woman is entitled to have the maintenance only during the that period i. e. only for the that period ?as these questions are of importance a number of learned Advocates intervened in the matter and they ably rendered assistance.

( 2 ) FOR deciding the aforesaid questions it would be necessary to refer to the preamble of the Act which reads as under: An Act to protect the rights of Muslim women who have been divorced by or have obtained divorce from their husbands and to provide for matters connected therewith or inci