New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday sought a response from the Centre on a plea of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) challenging the law which criminalises instant triple talaq.
A bench headed by Justice N V Ramana issued notice and tagged the plea of AIMPLB with other pending matters challenging the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019 which makes talaq-e-biddat or any other similar form of talaq having the effect of instantaneous and irrevocable divorce pronounced by a Muslim husband void and illegal.
The bench, while hearing a petition filed by Seerath un-Nabi Academy, was annoyed with the number of writ petitions being filed by various individuals and organisations and said there are over 20 petitions pending on the same issue of Triple Talaq.
The bench told the counsel appearing for the Academy, "How many writ petitions will be filed on the same issue. In every case, the notification comes and you all come with PILs. There are over 20 petitions pending on Triple Talaq. Should we tag 100 petitions and keep on hearing them for 100 years. We cannot hear 100 petitions on the same issue".
The Act makes it illegal to pronounce talaq three times in spoken, written or through SMS or WhatsApp or any other electronic chat in one sitting.
Any Muslim husband who pronounces the illegal form of talaq upon his wife is to be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years, and also be liable to fine, it says.
Read:|H'yana: Workers protest against shutdown of industries in Panipat for past 17 days
The plea by AIMPLB and Kamal Faruqui has challenged the Constitutional validity of the Act on grounds that it is manifestly arbitrary and offends Articles 14, 15, 20 and 21 of the Constitution and makes unwarranted/wrongful interference in the Muslim Personal Law as applicable to Hanafi Muslims.