Bench to decide on whether polygamy, ‘nikah halala’ are violation of rights

The Supreme Court on Tuesday clarified that it will decide on whether triple talaq and polygamy are violations of Muslim women’s rights and will have nothing to do with the requirement of a Uniform Civil Code.

A Bench led by Chief Justice of India J.S. Khehar said the issue of Uniform Civil Code was “completely different” and had nothing to do with the issue at hand.

The Bench said it would hear debates on the “legal” aspects of the practices of triple talaq, ‘nikah halala’ and polygamy among Muslims and would not deal with the question whether divorce under Muslim law needed to be supervised by courts as it fell under the legislative domain.

“You [lawyers for parties] sit together and finalise the issues to be deliberated upon by us. We are listing it day after tomorrow for deciding the issues,” the Bench said.

The court also made it clear to the parties that it would not deal with the factual aspects of the particular case and would rather decide the legal issue.

The Supreme Court said the question whether divorce under Muslim Personal Law needed to be supervised by either courts or by a court-supervised institutional arbitration fell under the legislative domain.

Centre’s opposition

The Centre had earlier opposed the practice of triple talaq, ‘nikah halala’ and polygamy among Muslims and favoured a relook on grounds of gender equality and secularism.

Responding to a batch of petitions, including the one filed by Shayara Bano, challenging the validity of such practices among Muslims, the Centre first dealt with the right of gender equality under the Constitution.