New Delhi: A unique combination of five Supreme Court judges belonging to different faiths will start hearing final arguments on the sensitive issue of triple talaq from Today. It must be noted that today is the first day of the SC’s summer vacation.
As reported by the Times of India the lead petition titled “Quest for Equality vs Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind” will be heard by five judges from five different communities — CJI J S Khehar (Sikh) and Justices Kurian Joseph (Christian), R F Nariman (Parsi), U U Lalit (Hindu) and Abdul Nazeer (Muslim). The five-judge Constitution bench is headed by Chief Justice J Khehar.
Six petitions by Quran Sunnath Society, Shayara Bano, Aafreen Rehman, Gulshan Parveen, Ishrat Jahan and Atiya Sabri are tagged with the case.
The pleas have challenged the constitutional validity of ‘triple talaq’, ‘nikah halala’ and polygamy practices among Muslims. The Muslim women who have filed the petitions have challenged the practice of triple talaq in which the husband, quite often, pronounces talaq thrice in one go, sometimes even by phone or text message.
Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi will assist the bench. The bench will also examine to what extent the court can interfere in the Muslim personal laws if they are found to be violative of the fundamental rights of citizens enshrined in the Constitution.
The New Indian Expresses reported that influential Muslim organisations like the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) have opposed court’s adjudication of these matters, maintaining these practices stemmed from the Holy Quran and were not justiciable. On March 27, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) had told the apex court that pleas challenging such practices among Muslims were not maintainable as the issues fell outside the realm of judiciary.
The Board had also said the validity of the Mohammedan Law, founded essentially in the Holy Quran and sources based on it, cannot be tested on the particular provisions of the Constitution.