Centre Stands Firm On Triple Talaq Law in Supreme Court, Calls Practice 'Fatal' to Marriage

The Central Government has defended its 2019 law criminalizing triple talaq by telling the Supreme Court that the practice is "fatal" to the institution of marriage.

In an affidavit responding to petitions challenging the law, the Centre emphasized that despite the Supreme Court declaring the practice unconstitutional in 2017, this ruling has "not worked as a sufficient deterrent in bringing down the number of divorces by this practice" among the Muslim community.

Photo Credit: PTI

The government argued that the law was passed by Parliament to protect married Muslim women from being divorced through triple talaq.

The Centre stated that the law "helps in ensuring the larger constitutional goals of gender justice and gender equality of married Muslim women and helps subserve their fundamental rights of non-discrimination and empowerment."

However, two Muslim organisations, Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind and Samastha Kerala Jamiathul Ulema, have petitioned the court to declare the law unconstitutional.

Jamiat argued that criminalising a specific mode of divorce for one religion, while leaving marriage and divorce in other religions under civil law, creates discrimination and violates Article 15 of the Constitution.

On August 22, 2017, the Supreme Court declared instant triple talaq (talaq-e-biddah) unconstitutional.

Following this, the validity of the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019, was challenged in the Court, which agreed to review it on August 23, 2019.

The law imposes a punishment of up to three years imprisonment for violating its provisions.

The BJP-led NDA government at the Centre passed the triple talaq bill in the Rajya Sabha with 99 votes in favor and 84 against on July 30, 2019.

The abolition of the practice was a key promise of the BJP.

After struggling to pass the legislation in the Upper House due to insufficient numbers, the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi issued several Ordinances.

Under the law, a Muslim woman subjected to triple talaq is entitled to seek a subsistence allowance from her husband for herself and her dependent children, and she can also seek custody of her minor children.