Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay has sought direction to the Centre to take appropriate action against those running Sharia courts that decide the cases related to marriage, divorce, inheritance and succession
Months after the Supreme Court banned the Muslim practice of instant triple talaq, advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay has filed a petition seeking a similar ban on the polygamy and nikah halala.
In May 2017, while hearing the arguments on Talaq-e-bidat (instant triple talaq), the five-judge constitution bench led by the Chief Justice of India JS Khehar had decreed that it would not deliberate on the issue of nikah halala or polygamy.
In his petition, the BJP leader has challenged the constitutional validity of Section 2 - that recognizes and validates the practice of polygamy and nikah halala, of the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937.
Upadhyay has sought direction to the Centre to take appropriate action against those running Sharia courts that decide the cases related to marriage, divorce, inheritance and succession or other similar matters. He has further sought to declare provisions of the IPC applicable on all Indian citizens and triple talaq is a cruelty under Section 498A of the IPC, nikah halala is rape under Section 375 of the IPC, and polygamy is an offence under Section 494 of the IPC.
"The laws dealing with marriage and succession are not a part of religion, law has to change with time, and international covenants and treaties could be referred to examine validity and reasonableness of a provision," the petition reads.
Upadhyay further argued that "ban on polygamy and nikah halala has been the need of the hour to secure basic rights and in the interest of public order, morality and health."
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