New Delhi:The Delhi High Court Wednesday sought the Centre's response on a petition challenging the "assumed absolute discretion" of a Muslim man to give divorce (talaq-ul-sunnat) to his wife at any time without any reason and advocate notice to her. A bench of justices Vipin Sanghi and Jasmeet Singh issued notice and granted eight weeks time to the Centre to file its reply to the petition.
The Centre was represented through standing counsel Monika Arora in the case. According to section 3 of the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019, any pronouncement of talaq by a man upon his wife, by words, either spoken or written or in electronic form or in any other manner whatsoever, shall be void and illegal. The petitioner woman, in her plea, alleged that the practice is "arbitrary, anti-shariat, unconstitutional, discriminatory and barbaric" and sought that the assumed discretion of husband to give divorce to his wife at any time be declared as arbitrary.
The plea also sought issuance of detailed step by step guidelines in the form of checks and balances on the issue of assumed absolute discretion of the husband to give divorce to his wife at any time without any reason. It sought direction to declare that the Muslim marriage is not just a mere contract but it is a status. The plea was filed by a 28-year-old married Muslim woman who said she was deserted by her husband by pronouncing instant 'triple talaq' on August 8 last year and thereafter, she served a legal notice to her husband for restitution of conjugal rights.