‘Court can't interfere in religious freedom’: Muslim body on Triple Talaq

In an affidavit to SC, Muslim Personal Law Board said that Triple Talaq could not be challenged as it was derived from the Quran.

New Delhi: Backing triple talaq, the Muslim Personal Law Board filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court on Friday, saying the court can’t interfere in religious freedom.

“Personal laws can't be challenged as that would be a violation of the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution,” said the All India Muslim Personal Law Board in a reply to the Supreme Court.

Triple talaq (Talaq-e-bidat) is a Muslim man divorcing his wife by pronouncing more than one talaq in a single tuhr (the period between two menstruations), or in a tuhr after coitus, or pronouncing an irrevocable instantaneous divorce at one go (unilateral triple-talaq).

Nikah halala refers to the marriage of a woman with another man who subsequently divorces her so that her previous husband can remarry her.

The board also said that personal laws, which are based on the scriptures and customs of each major religious community in India, can't be rewritten in the name of social reform and that the courts can't interfere in them. \"Courts can't supplant their own interpretations,\" the board said.

The affidavit further said that the triple Talaq form of divorce is \"permissible in Islam as the husband is in a better position to take a decision because they won't take hasty decision and it is used only when there is a valid ground.\"

“The Holy Quran and said scriptures don't fall within the expression of laws that can be challenged.”

Triple talaq has been challenged by a Muslim woman, who was divorced by her husband through a phone call from Dubai. She filed a plea in the Supreme Court challenging the Muslim practices of polygamy.

Petitioner 26-year-old Ishrat Jahan has sought a declaration from the court that Section 2 of Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937 was unconstitutional as it violated fundamental rights guaranteed under Articles 14 (equality), 15 (non-discrimination), 21 (life) and 25 (religion) of the Constitution \"in so far as it seeks to recognise and validate talaq-e-bidat (triple talaq) as a valid form of divorce\".

On June 29, the apex court had agreed to examine the issue and said that a divorce through 'triple talaq' among the Muslim community was a \"very important matter affecting a large section of people\", which has to be tested on the \"touchstone of the constitutional framework\".

The apex court had taken suo motu cognizance of the question whether Muslim women faced gender discrimination in cases of divorce or due to other marriages of their husbands and urged Chief Justice of India to set up a bench to examine the issue.

Subsequently, various other petitions including one by triple talaq victim Shayara Bano were filed challenging the age-old practice of 'triple talaq' among the Muslim community.

(This article first appeared in Deccan Chronicle)