The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the central government to state on affidavit the total number of FIRs registered and charge sheets filed across the country under the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019, that criminalises divorcing a wife by a Muslim husband by pronouncing talaq three times in one go and provides for a jail term of up to three years for such a husband.

At the outset of the hearing of a batch of petitions challenging the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019, Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna, heading the bench also comprising Justice Sanjay Kumar, asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta if he could apprise the court of the total number of FIRs registered in the country under the law and the cases pending before the courts.

Advertisement

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the central government, said he would provide the details to the court.

The hearing on Wednesday witnessed Solicitor General Mehta and the advocates appearing for the petitioners, who have challenged the 2019 law, exchanging jibes.

Appearing for some of the petitioners, who have challenged the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019, senior advocate MR Shamshad told the bench that FIRs are not registered for months in matrimonial cases, but here, on the mere occurrence of words, FIRs are filed.

Solicitor General Mehta mocked the submission and said, “You throw a woman out of your life and house by mere occurrence of the word.”

Advocate Nizam Pasha, also representing some of the petitioners, responded that the mere utterance of words has been criminalised and abandonment is also not a criminal offence for any other community.

“Triple Talaq is also not in other communities,” the Solicitor General responded.

CJI Sanjiv Khanna then said, “I am sure none of the lawyers here are saying that the triple talaq practice is correct, but what they are saying is that whether it can be criminalised when the practice is banned and no divorce can take place by uttering talaq three times at once.”

The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019, abolishes the practice of divorcing a wife by pronouncing triple talaq in one go and makes it punishable for the husband for a jail term of up to three years.

The top court was hearing a batch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the 2019 Act. The petitions challenging the law that criminalises the divorces by Muslim husbands by pronouncing talaq three times in one go included one by Kerala-based Samastha Kerala Jamaithul Ulema, Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind, All India Muslim Personal Law Board, Jamat E Ahile Sunnat Karnataka, Muslim Advocates Association, Islamic scholar and politician Amir Rashadi Madni, Sayyed Farooq, and others.

Seeking a declaration that the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019, notified on July 31, 2019, is violative of Articles 14, 15, 21, and 123 of the Constitution of India and thus unconstitutional and unenforceable, the Kerala-based Samastha Kerala Jamaithul Ulema has said, “The Act has introduced penal legislation specific to a class of persons based on religious identity. It is causative of grave public mischief, which, if unchecked, may lead to polarisation and disharmony in society.”

The Samastha Kerala Jamaithul Ulema has stated that the intent behind the Act is not “abolition of triple talaq but punishment of Muslim husbands” as Section 4 of the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act provides for a three-year sentence when a Muslim husband pronounces triple talaq.

The central government had earlier stated that the state could resort to criminal law to preserve the sanctity of the institution of marriage.

“Triple talaq was not a private wrong done to one woman. It was a public wrong which militates against the rights of women and the social institution of marriage itself,” the central government had said.

Triple talaq ceased to exist on August 22, 2017, when the Supreme Court declared it void.