PremiumNew Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear a plea challenging the newly-minted law which criminalizes the practice of instant triple talaq. A bench of justices N.V. Ramana and Ajay Rastogi issued a notice to the Centre on a batch of petitions which claimed that the Act violates the provisions of the Constitution.
The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019, makes instant triple talaq a cognizable offence, attracting up to three years of imprisonment with a fine. Under the act, an accused can be arrested without a warrant.
Citing a five-judge Constitution bench verdict, which had declared the practice of triple talaq among Muslims as null and void, senior advocate Salman Khurshid, appearing on behalf of one of the petitioners, said:“If there is no such thing as triple talaq then how are they making it an offence."
“Practices such as sati, dowry, have been declared bad by courts, can a law not be enacted against the same? This is a doubt I have," said Justice Ramana. “We will examine this," the bench told Khurshid before issuing a notice to the Centre, and adjourning the case for four weeks.
Petitions challenging the criminalization of instant triple talaq were filed by Samastha Kerala Jamiathul Ulema, a religious organization of Sunni Muslim scholars; Amir Rashid Madni, a politician and Islamic scholar; and Jamiat Ulama- I- Hind.
The religious organization contended that the Act allows for penal actions against a specific class of people based on their religion. The petitioners also said the bill violates the fundamental rights under Article 14, 15 and 21 of the Constitution of India.
The petition by Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind contended that the Act is discriminatory in nature, as it allows for penal actions against a class of people belonging to a certain religion. It has sought direction from the Supreme Court to declare the Act as “unconstitutional", as the law is violative of fundamental rights to equality, non-discrimination, life and liberty.
It said the Act may lead to polarization and disharmony in the society. It also argued that following the Shayara Bano case, the utterance of triple talaq has been rendered useless, and questioned the logic behind the penal action against husbands for the utterance of a meaningless word.
