Supreme Court to decide on triple talaq

The Supreme Court on Wednesday decided to examine the legal validity of the “triple talaq system” under the Sharia law, which enables Muslim men to unilaterally exercise the power of divorce.

A bench of Chief Justice T.S. Thakur and Justice A.M. Kanwilkar, which has already sought the assistance of the attorney general Mukul Rohatgi to assist in adjudicating the issue, will examine to what extent the court can interfere in Muslim personal laws, if they are found to be violative of the fundamental rights of citizens enshrined in the Constitution.

The bench was hearing a batch of petitions filed by Muslim Women’s Quest for Equality and others seeking a declaration that triple talaq is invalid in law and unconstitutional. Senior counsel Anand Grover, Indira Jaising, Chadha, Balaji Srinivasan and others submitted that the earlier judgments giving right to Muslim men to divorce should be revisited. Ms Jaising pointed out that triple talaq is unIslamic even under Muslim personal law.

Advocate Farha Faiz, president of Rashtrawadi Muslim Mahila Sangh, questioned the role of All-India Muslim Personal Law Board in giving fatwas to Muslim women and deciding on their rights.

She said the AIMPLB which is a registered society is successfully governing the community, which has the impression that Muslim personal laws are made by the board.

She wanted a direction to restrain the board and the media from debating the issue as such debates would cause disturbance in the society.

The CJI told the counsel, “This is an important issue concerning the lives of a large number of the Muslim population and divergent views are possible. However, we will not be influenced by television debates.” The CJI asked the counsel to file their responses in six weeks indicating the propositions to be examined by the court and whether these issues had already been decided or not.

The CJI said that depending upon the nature of arguments, he would decide on posting the matter for adjudication by a larger bench.

The petitioners highlighted the plight faced by Muslim women in this country on account of arbitrary divorces imposed upon them by men without due intervention of Courts. They said Muslim women are thrown away from their matrimonial houses bringing suffering to them and their children. The current scenario emerging from the imposition of unilateral triple talaq on Muslim Women in India has resulted in infringement and violation of their fundamental rights of equality and rights guaranteed under Article 14 & 21 of the Constitution. It is well settled principle in law that a person cannot be a judge of his own cause, and in the case of triple talaq, Muslim men unilaterally decide an end to matrimonial ties. This clearly conflicts Public Policy. Only the granting of divorce through due intervention of Courts established under Law will protect the interests of both parties while resolving their marital dispute.