The practice of ‘triple talaq’ is “fatal for the social institution of marriage” and “makes Muslim women’s condition very pathetic”, the government argued Monday in an affidavit filed before the Supreme Court.
The government said the top court’s setting aside of the practice – that had been held valid among certain Muslim communities – in 2017 had “not worked as a sufficient deterrent in bringing down the number of divorces by this practice” among members of those communities.
“Victims of ‘triple talaq’ have no option but to approach the police… and the police were helpless as no action could be taken against husbands in the absence of punitive provisions in the law. In order to prevent (this) there was an urgent need for stringent (legal) provisions,” the government said.
The government’s affidavit was in response to a petition arguing that since the Supreme Court had invalidated the practice of ‘triple talaq’ there is no need to criminalise the same.
The original affidavit was filed earlier this month by the Samastha Kerala Jamiathul Ulema, which describes itself as “an association of eminent Sunni scholars”. Among other points, the petitioner called the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019, is unconstitutional.
The petitioners argued that the Act violates fundamental rights, including those that guarantee Indian citizens equality before law and prohibits discrimination on grounds of religion.
In a detailed response made public this morning the government firmly dismissed the petitioners’ claims, arguing that the practice of ‘triple talaq’ “violates fundamental rights and rights of equality guaranteed to women under the Constitution”.
