SC Asks Centre for Details on FIRs and Chargesheets in Triple Talaq Cases

GG News Bureau
New Delhi, 29th Jan. The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the Centre to provide details of FIRs and chargesheets filed against men who pronounced instant triple talaq in violation of the 1991 Muslim Women (Protection of Rights in Marriage) Act.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar was hearing 12 petitions challenging the constitutionality of the law, which criminalizes the practice of instant triple talaq. The Court asked the Centre to submit the number of pending FIRs and charge sheets filed under Sections 3 and 4 of the 2019 Act, which makes the act of pronouncing ‘talaq’ three times in one go illegal and punishable with a three-year jail term for the husband.

The bench fixed the case for final hearing in the week commencing March 17 and also directed all parties to file written submissions, not exceeding three pages, in support of their arguments.

The lead petitioner in the case is Samastha Kerala Jamiathul Ulema, a Muslim organization based in Kozhikode, Kerala.

Instant triple talaq, or ‘talaq-e-biddat,’ has been banned by the Supreme Court in a landmark 2017 verdict, which ruled the practice violated the basic tenets of the Quran and Islamic law Shariat. The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights in Marriage) Act was passed in 2019 to make the practice criminal.