PERSONAL LAW DEBATE

Triple talaq hearing: Social and political ramifications

muslim-women-812reuters (File) Representative image | Reuters

The Supreme Court, on Thursday, referred the case to a five-judge constitution bench, which will conduct final hearing from May 11 to 19

  • The religious issue had assumed political hue after BJP supported the move to abolish the practice, saying it was against the interests of women. Party chief Amit Shah during his campaign in Uttar Pradesh elections had thrown his weight behind abolition of triple talaq, a move which the party later claimed paid dividends during the polling. The saffron party claimed that Muslim women had silently voted for them

More than a year after a 38-year-old woman from Uttarakhand, Shayara Bano, moved Supreme Court challenging the Islamic practices of triple talaq, polygamy and nikah halala, the case has moved to a decisive phase. The Supreme Court, on Thursday, referred the case to a five-judge constitution bench, which will conduct final hearing from May 11 to 19.

The Supreme Court judgment in the coming months could have wide social and political ramifications.

The religious issue had assumed political hue after BJP supported the move to abolish the practice, saying it was against the interests of women. Party chief Amit Shah, during his campaign in Uttar Pradesh elections, had thrown his weight behind abolition of triple talaq, a move which the party later claimed paid dividends during the polling. The saffron party claimed that Muslim women had silently voted for them.

Some Muslim bodies, particularly the All Indian Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), feel that by pushing the ban of triple talaq, the government was also setting the stage for a uniform civil code (UCC).

The instant triple talaq is only recognised by the Sunnis—Shia Muslims support its repeal. Many women bodies are also pushing for a ban on the practice, on the grounds of gender equality and women rights.

The AIMPLB is opposing Bano's contention saying that any change in the triple talaq would be anti-Islamic. “Supreme Court in its various judgments had upheld the personal law. We are arguing that the court see this case in light of its previous judgments," Zafaryab Jilani, secretary of AIMPLB, told THE WEEK.

He added that there were prescribed norms under which talaq could be given and it was condemnable if no justification was given for the talaq.

Bano had been married for 13 years, before her husband divorced her on October 10, 2015. He sent her a letter pronouncing talaq. She had alleged that she was continuously subjected to cruelty by her huband. In February 2016, she filed a petition challenging the three practices, Talaq-e-Bidat, Nikah-Halala (a practice requiring a woman to mary another person before she can return to her former husband) and polygamy, asking that these be termed as illegal. They violated articles 14, 15, 21 and 25 of the Constitution, she said.

“Many Islamic nations, including Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Iraq, have banned or restricted such practice, while it continues to vex the Indian society in general and Indian Muslim women in particular,” Bano's petition, filed by her counsel Balaji Srinivasan, in Supreme Court, said.

“Muslim women have been given talaq over Skype, Facebook and even text messages. There is no protection against such arbitrary divorce. Such discrimination and inequality, hoarsely expressed in the form of unilateral triple-talaq, is abominable when seen in light of the progressive 21st century," the petition added.

Modi government, too, favoured repealing the practice. In its affidavit before the court, last year, the government said, “gender equality and diginity of women are non-negotiable, overarching, constitutional values and can brook no compromise".

The AIMPLB argued before the court that personal laws of a community cannot be re-written in the name of social reform, and courts cannot supplant its own interpretations over the scriptures. “Unique importance has been attached to religious scriptures in the Indian legal system and in Indian culture. Muslim personal law provides for the practices to be followed on the issues of marriage, divorce and maintenance and these practices are based on holy scriptures—Al-Quran and sources based on Al- Quran,” the AIMPLB counsel Ejaz Maqbool, in his written submission before the court, said.

Maqbool told THE WEEK that Supreme Court can deliver its judgment after the hearing gets over on May 19. The case is in its final stage.

Another case had come to light where a Muslim woman, Shagufta, wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and UP CM Yogi Adityanath urging him to ban the triple talaq after she was was abandoned by her husband.

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Topics : #Triple Talaq

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