Top Court to heard plea against Talaq-e-Hasan today

The petition has been filed by advocate Ashwani Kumar Dubey on behalf of a Ghaziabad resident, Benazeer Heena

The Supreme Court yesterday agreed to think about a plea questioning validity of 'Talaq-e-Hasan', which allowed a Muslim man to divorce his wife by pronouncing "talaq" once a month for 3 months, and every one other sorts of unilateral extra-judicial talaq.

A vacation bench of Justices A S Bopanna and Vikram Nath allowed a plea for urgent hearing made by advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay on behalf of the petitioner.

He said the aggrieved lady and a baby would be left without a remedy if no intervention was made. the primary notice was given on April 19 and therefore the second notice was issued on May 19.

After a 3rd notice, the method for divorce would be complete, and therefore the woman would be left with an option of 'Halala' to resume her marriage, he said.

The petition has been filed by advocate Ashwani Kumar Dubey on behalf of a Ghaziabad resident, Benazeer Heena, who claimed to be a victim of “unilateral extra-judicial Talaq-e-Hasan”. 

The plea sought a declaration of the practice as void and unconstitutional for being arbitrary, irrational, and violative of the elemental rights guaranteed under the Constitution. 

In Talaq-e-Hasan, talaq is pronounced once a month, over a period of three months. If cohabitation isn't resumed during this era, divorce gets formalised after the third utterance within the third month. However, if cohabitation resumes after the primary or second utterance of talaq, the parties are assumed to own reconciled. The first/second utterances of talaq are deemed invalid. 

The petitioner, who claimed to own been given such a divorce, contended that the police and authorities had told her that Talaq-e-Hasan is permitted under Sharia. 

“The Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937, conveys a wrong impression that the law sanctions Talaq-E-Hasan and every one other styles of unilateral extra-judicial talaq, which is grossly injurious to the basic rights of married Muslim women and offends Articles 14, 15, 21 and 25 of the Constitution of India and therefore the international conventions on civil and human rights,” her plea said.

It further distinguished, many Islamic nations have restricted such a practice, while it continues to vex the Indian society normally and Muslim women just like the petitioner specifically. 

The practice also wreaks havoc to lives of the many women and their children, especially those belonging to the weaker economic sections of the society, it added.