SC considers plea of Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi, says issues of polygamy and 'nikah halala' will remain open for future adjudication.
The Supreme Court on Monday considered Attorney General (AG) Mukul Rohatgi's plea to discuss issues of polygamy and 'nikah halala', but said it will keep the issue pending due to limited time.
The court said that the issues of polygamy and 'nikah halala' will remain open for future adjudication.
However, the court said that due to paucity of time it will only be dealing with the issue of triple talaq. "Will keep issues of 'polygamy' and 'nikah halala' pending," the court said.
Last week, the top court commenced its marathon hearing over a batch of pleas by Muslim women rejecting their religious convention of practicing triple talaq and said it would examine whether triple talaq is fundamental to religion.
The Supreme Court has also observed that the triple talaq was the worst and undesirable form of dissolution of marriage.
On May 11, government told the apex court that it opposes the triple talaq practice and wants to fight for women equality and gender justice.
However, All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) counsel Kapil Sibal told the apex court that triple talaq is a matter that comes under the Muslim board and therefore, in his opinion, the top court should not interfere in it.
The hearings have been designated to a five-judge Constitution bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Jagdish Singh Khehar and four other judges, namely Justices Kurian Joseph, Rohinton Fali Nariman, Uday Umesh Lalit and S. Abdul Nazeer.
Nikah Halala is a practice intended to curb the incidence of divorce under which a man cannot remarry his former wife without her going through the process of marrying someone else, consummating it, getting divorced, observing the separation period called 'Iddat' and then returning to him.
Relentless debates on the validity and plausibility of this practice were instigated soon after a petitioner, Shayara Banu, challenged the Muslim personal law over instantaneous triple talaq (talaq-e-bidat), polygamy and nikah-halala.
Supporting the stance of ending the practice of triple talaq, the Allahabad High Court earlier asserted that the rights of any person, including Muslim women, cannot be violated in the name of 'personal law'.
It said the basic and human rights cannot be exploited on the basis of gender.
"A Muslim husband cannot give divorce in such a manner which would put a question mark on equal rights," the court observed.
In December last year, the Allahabad High Court termed the Islamic practice of divorcing a woman by uttering the word "talaq" thrice as "unconstitutional".
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "tripple-talaq")
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}