A 5-judge Constitution bench will start hearing the matter on May 11, despite the Centre asking for the date to be deferred
The Supreme Court on Thursday pushed for an expeditious hearing of the triple talaq case, rebuffing the Centre’s attempts to defer it. A five-judge Constitution bench will hear the matter from May 11 onward, and may even sit on weekends if required to finish hearing the arguments in time.
On previous occasions, the SC had indicated that the triple talaq and WhatsApp issues, and the one pertaining to the status of children of illegal Bangladeshi migrants to Assam would be heard by Constitution benches during the summer vacations. The SC had then fixed May 11 as the date for the issues to be heard, after the consent of all parties concerned.
So when Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi and senior counsel Kabil Sibal tried to defer the hearing on triple talaq, submitting that they were required in the other matters as well, the Chief Justice of India JS Khehar responded by saying that he has worked during the last two summers. “These are all important matters and must be heard during the time given,” the CJI said, adding, “We have been given an opportunity to resolve this issue (triple talaq). If the matter is not heard during the summer, it will never come up again.”
After a brief discussion, all parties consented and May 11 was once again finalised as the date of hearing.
During the last hearing, the Centre had submitted four issues it found pertinent for debate in the triple talaq issue. The questions that are up for determination include whether the practices of talaq-e-bidat, nikah halala and polygamy are protected under Article 25(1) of the Constitution or not, and if they are compatible with India’s obligations under international treaties and covenants it is a signatory to? Other questions include if the said article is subject to Part III of the Constitution in Articles 14 and 21, and whether personal law is “law” under Article 13 of the Constitution or not.
The SC had also directed all the parties concerned to submit their written submissions, which would pave the way to the final debate in May. Earlier in the week, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), in its submission, had asked the SC to stay out of the matter.
Days ago, the AIMPLB stated that declaring triple talaq as illegal would amount to “disregarding Allah’s directions and rewriting of the Holy Quran. Their submissions further read, “If such casual denunciation of the verses of the holy book is permitted, then soon Islam would cease to exist. Though triple talaq in one sitting is an unusual mode of divorce in Islam, it cannot be declared to be invalid in the light of the direct verses of the Holy Quran and categorical command of the Messenger of Allah.”
The Centre, on the other hand, took refuge behind secularism, gender issues and international commitments to denounce the practices of triple talaq, nikah halala and polygamy.
Senior advocate Indira Jaising — representing a collective of Muslim women and the Centre for Islamic and Secular Studies (CISS) — submitted that triple talaq was unconstitutional. “Section 2 of The Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937, to the extent that it recognises triple talaq, is unconstitutional,” said Jaising while speaking to DNA. “Even the Bombay High Court judgment, State of Bombay vs. Narasu Appa Mali, was wrongly decided and is required to be overruled,” she added.
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