New Delhi: The Centre has vigorously implemented its 2019 law passed to prohibit the practice of triple talaq before the Supreme Court, insisting that the practice is what the Court called “fatal” to marriage. When addressing petitions against the law in an affidavit, the Centre admitted that even after the Supreme Court’s decision to declare instant triple talaq unconstitutional in 2017, the ruling has failed to deter the practice. As per the ruling government, triple talaq has persisted among certain sects of the Muslim population; the need of the hour is stringent legislation.
More importantly, the affidavit re-emphasizes the fact that the Parliament of India enacted the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019 to protect the rights of married Muslim women who can be divorced through instant triple talaq. The government argued that the law would protect the constitutional right enshrining gender justice and equality of Muslim women in the enjoyment of their rights against discrimination and for them to be empowered.
Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind and Samastha Kerala Jamiathul Ulema – two Muslim societies – moved the Supreme Court seeking a declaration that the law kicked in by the government was unconstitutional. Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind argued that allowing criminalization of a specific form of divorce within a particular religion while allowing freedom to divorce in other religions under civil law discriminated against them and violated Article 15 of the Constitution.
The practice of instant triple talaq, also referred to as talaq-e-buddha, was declared unlawful by the apex court on August 22, 2017. Interestingly, on 23/08/2019, the Court said that it, considering the aspects of the Constitution, would like to reconsider the constitutional validity of the following act: Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019. The Act was enacted by the BJP-led NDA government, and violations of the provisions attract imprisonment, which can extend up to three years.
The parliamentary victory of the triple talaq bill in the Rajya Sabha on July 30, 2019, also resulted in the realization of a commitment that the BJP had once faced the danger of not being able to deliver thanks to a lack of numbers.
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