Supreme Court seeks Centre's response on PIL over talaq guidelines

NEW DELHI — The Supreme Court has asked the Centre and others to respond to a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking uniform procedural safeguards for all forms of talaq, according to Tribune India. The bench, led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, made the request on October 16, the outlet reported on October 20.

The petition asks the court to direct the Centre to frame and enforce legally binding guidelines on divorce under Muslim personal law. The bench also asked the respondents to state their position on the petitioner's challenge to the validity of "Talaq-e-Hasan".

The petition seeks a declaration that Section 2 of the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937, is unconstitutional insofar as it recognises Talaq-e-Hasan as a valid divorce. It also seeks protection measures for divorced women and their children, and asks that polygamy be subject to statutory safeguards. The petitioner relies on Articles 14, 15 and 21 of the Constitution, according to the report.

The bench clubbed the petition with a separate case filed by a Muslim woman. She challenges Talaq-e-Hasan after her husband gave her talaq in that form. That case is still pending before the court.

The report did not say when the court will hear the matter or what the Centre's response will be.

Background

Talaq-e-Hasan allows a man to pronounce "talaq" once a month over three months. The divorce is final after the third utterance in the third month, if the couple has not resumed cohabitation. If they resume living together after the first or second utterance, the parties are assumed to have reconciled, the report said.

In 2017, the Supreme Court declared instant triple talaq, known as talaq-e-biddat, unconstitutional. The court called it arbitrary and a violation of women's fundamental rights, the report said.