{"id":25981,"date":"2018-09-27T16:33:54","date_gmt":"2018-09-27T11:03:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/?p=25981"},"modified":"2018-09-27T16:33:54","modified_gmt":"2018-09-27T11:03:54","slug":"triple-talaq","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/triple-talaq\/","title":{"rendered":"TRIPLE TALAQ"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b>Context<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Recently the government has brought an ordinance that criminalises Instant Triple Talaq. <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-25986\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/marriage.jpg?resize=639%2C303&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"639\" height=\"303\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/marriage.jpg?w=639&amp;ssl=1 639w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/marriage.jpg?resize=150%2C71&amp;ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/marriage.jpg?resize=300%2C142&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 639px) 100vw, 639px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><b>Triple Talaq<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>What is Instant Triple Talaq?<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is a distorted form of Talaq used by a Muslim man to divorce his wife by just uttering \u2018Talaq\u2019 three times.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is irrevocable form of Talaq where there is no scope of reconciliation.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is practised mainly by the Hanafis, a sub sect of Sunni Muslims in India.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-25982\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/muslim.jpg?resize=329%2C335&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"329\" height=\"335\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/muslim.jpg?w=329&amp;ssl=1 329w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/muslim.jpg?resize=147%2C150&amp;ssl=1 147w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/muslim.jpg?resize=295%2C300&amp;ssl=1 295w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 329px) 100vw, 329px\" \/><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is also known as <\/span><b>Talaq-e-biddat.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Supreme Court had outlawed Instant Triple Talaq \u00a0in 2017.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Issues with instant Triple Talaq<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Triple Talaq goes <\/span><b>against the ethos<\/b> <b>of the constitution<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> as it violates Article 14.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Many religious leaders say that it violates quranic procedure as there is <\/span><b>no mention of Instant triple talaq in Quran<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is <\/span><b>discriminatory to the women<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> as the marriage is unilaterally dissolved by the husband.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Awareness of the practise of Triple Talaq has a <\/span><b>negative impact on overall development<\/b> <b>and psyche<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of girls while growing up.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The \u2018triple talaq\u2019 has been <\/span><b>abolished in 21 Islamic countries<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> including Pakistan.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Important Supreme Court Judgments<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>Shah Bano Case (1985)<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In 1978, Shah Bano was divorced by her husband.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Supreme Court directed the husband to pay alimony to Shah Bano.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, the Rajiv Gandhi Government at the time, enacted the <\/span><b>Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, that \u00a0nullified the court directive.<\/span><\/li>\n<li>It limited the maintenance payments to the iddat period [the three-month waiting period for divorce].<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Ahmedabad Women Action Group (AWAG) case (1997)<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed in the court to address various issues including Talaq.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The court held that adjudication of personal law was beyond the jurisdiction of the court.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Danial Latifi case (2001)<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lawyer Danial Latifi challenged the constitutionality of the provisions of the Muslim Women\u2019s Act, 1986, for providing maintenance only during the iddat period.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Supreme Court ruled that the husband would pay a reasonable and fair amount needed to maintain his ex-wife for the rest of her life.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Shamim Ara case (2002)<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Shamim Ara was divorced by her husband by triple talaq but she denied having been divorced.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The court held that talaq must be pronounced in an Islamic way and it should be proven beyond doubt the events leading to talaq.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The judgment invalidated the arbitrary talaq.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It held that the wife was liable to receive maintenance from her husband.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Shayara Bano Case (2017)<\/b><\/p>\n<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-25983\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/how.jpg?resize=678%2C418&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"678\" height=\"418\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/how.jpg?w=678&amp;ssl=1 678w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/how.jpg?resize=150%2C92&amp;ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/how.jpg?resize=300%2C185&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 678px) 100vw, 678px\" \/><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A five-judge bench in 2017 declared by a majority of 3:2 that instant Triple Talaq is unconstitutional<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Constitution Bench did not accept the argument that instant talaq is essential to Islam and, therefore, deserves constitutional protection under Article 25.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The main ground on which the practise has been struck down is that the practise is arbitrary and depends on the whims of the husband.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The court ruled that the practice was <\/span><b>against Article 14 of the Constitution<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, which guarantees the right to equality.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It suggested the government to bring a legislation banning triple talaq.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Recommendations of the Law commission<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Law commission has released a consultation paper titled <\/span><b>\u2018Reform of family law\u2019 <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">in August<\/span><b>.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The panel held that social evils such as the practise of triple talaq should not be allowed under religious customs.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It said that weaker sections like women should not be discriminated in religious practises.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It has recommended that men and women both should have same rights and grounds for divorce.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It also called for penalising any man resorting to unilateral divorce as per the provisions of Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act,2005.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2017<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the light of SC verdict the government introduced this bill.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Bill makes all declaration of \u2018talaq\u2019 including in written or electronic form to be void and illegal.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It defines talaq as talaq-e-biddat or any other similar form of talaq pronounced by a Muslim man resulting in instant and irrevocable divorce.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Offence and penalty:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Bill makes declaration of talaq a <\/span><b>cognizable<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><b>non-bailable offence<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A cognizable offence is one for which a police officer may arrest an accused person without warrant.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A husband declaring talaq can be imprisoned for up to 3 years.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Allowance: <\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The wife is entitled to seek subsistence allowance from her husband for herself and for dependent children.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The amount of the allowance will be decided by a Magistrate.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Custody of minor children:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The wife is entitled to seek custody of her minor children. <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Triple Talaq Ordinance<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Since the bill was pending in Rajya Sabha the government promulgated an ordinance.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Provisions of the ordinance<\/b><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The ordinance has incorporated certain safeguards which were not present in the original Bill, to allay fears among Muslim men.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The offence has been made non-bailable however the accused can approach a magistrate even before trial to seek bail. <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Police can lodge First information Report (FIR) only if the complaint is filed by the wife (victim), her blood relations or her relatives. <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Non-relatives or neighbors cannot lodge a complaint under the proposed law.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The ordinance makes the offence of instant triple talaq <\/span><b>\u201ccompoundable\u201d<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> which means that the magistrate can use his powers to settle the dispute between a husband and his wife.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The custody of children from the marriage will go to the woman.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><b>Issues and Challenges<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>Criminalization of a civil wrong <\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Triple Talaq Bill and the recently promulgated ordinance criminalize triple talaq.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Why criminalization is correct<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Triple Talaq is a grave wrong and if strengthened and used correctly, this law can act as a deterrent. <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Even after the SC ruling the practice has continued unchecked and 201 cases of Triple Talaq have been reported since the verdict.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This law is considered sinful by the majority in the Muslim community especially the women and they wanted it to go.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Triple Talaq is similar to social evils like dowry and polygamy and should be criminalised.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Why criminalization of Instant triple talaq is wrong<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It will be very difficult for the women to prove \u2018oral instant triple talaq\u2019 in the court of law.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The fear of the husband going to jail may inhibit women from even reporting instant triple talaq.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There is no \u00a0proof that criminalization necessarily acts as a deterrent.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> A \u00a0husband would not consider the prospect of reconciliation with his wife because of whom he is in jail.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The law is not clear on who will pay maintenance when the husband is in Jail.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Many Muslim men instead of divorcing their wives might abandon them due to fear of prosecution.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Quantum of punishment<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The quantum of 3 year punishment clubs Instant Triple Talaq with other serious crimes like sedition, rioting etc and hence it is excessive and arbitrary.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A punishment should have only that degree of severity which is sufficient to deter others.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Personal law versus Constitutional Law<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In India Article 14 of the constitution grants right to equality \u00a0and Article 25 guarantees religious freedom. <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When it comes to personal issues (marriage, divorce etc), Muslims in India are governed by the <\/span><b>Shariat Application Act<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><b>1937.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the Triple Talaq case the majority judgment held that personal law is within the bounds of the Constitution and can no longer infringe fundamental rights. <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It found Instant Triple Talaq to be violative of Article 14 of the constitution.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However the minority judgment held that religious freedom under the Article 25 of Indian Constitution protected not just individual faith, but personal laws too.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Supreme Court should take a clear stand on the debate of personal law versus Constitutional law as it will have impact on many other cases like polygamy, Nikah Halala etc.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Way forward<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There is a need for a codified Muslim family law which is based on the Quran and compliant with constitutional provisions.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Muslim bride, at the time of the wedding should be allowed to lay down a condition in the nikahnama that she would not be subjected to instant talaq in case of a marital problem.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Awareness should also be raised about <\/span><b>khula<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, through which a woman can also divorce her husband. <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Divorce by triple talaq instead of being criminalized can be placed within the purview of the <\/span><b>Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005. <\/b><\/li>\n<li>It is essential to bring a civil redressal mechanism \u00a0to ensure that women can negotiate for their rights both within and outside of marriage.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Context Recently the government has brought an ordinance that criminalises Instant Triple Talaq. Triple Talaq What is Instant Triple Talaq? It is a distorted form of Talaq used by a Muslim man to divorce his wife by just uttering \u2018Talaq\u2019 three times. It is irrevocable form of Talaq where there is no scope of reconciliation.&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/triple-talaq\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">TRIPLE TALAQ<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":3847,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25981","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured-editorials","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/talak-1.jpg?fit=1000%2C500&ssl=1","views":{"total":0,"cached_at":"","cached_date":1700432190},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25981","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25981"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25981\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3847"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25981"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25981"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25981"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}