Chief Justice Opinion In Triple Talaq Case Flawed: Former Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi

New Delhi: Mukul Rohatgi may no longer be in the hot seat as the top government lawyer in the country, but is satisfied with his efforts after the verdict in the triple talaq case on Tuesday. Mincing no words, the former Attorney General tells NDTV that "this kind of triple talaq is not sanctioned by the Quran. It is like saying that I don't like a cold drink so I just chuck it."

Mr Rohatgi is equally candid in his assessment of Chief Justice JS Khehar's minority opinion along with Justice Abdul Nazeer, saying he thinks "it is completely flawed."

Chief Justice Khehar and Justice Nazeer had differed from the three other judges in the five-judge bench yesterday, and said while triple talaq "may be sinful", the court can't interfere in personal laws which have the status of fundamental right under the constitution. They were of the view that parliament should bring a law to end the practice.

Taking on the Muslim Law Board, Mr Rohatgi says, "Muslim personal law board bitterly opposed all our submissions, but now after losing they are saying everything is alright and this is what we wanted."

Looking back at the long hours he spent arguing the case before the five-judge bench, Mr Rohatgi says in his view the Supreme Court should have gone further, banning nikah halala "and talaq because they are also arbitrary and give the woman no say."

The triple talaq case had taken deep political colour with senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal representing the Muslim law board and Salman Khurshid acting as a friend of court but Mr Rohatgi believes that neither he nor Mr Sibal "were really thinking of political affiliations in court and what happens outside court doesn't really concern it."

From one historic verdict yesterday to another one on the anvil tomorrow - Right to Privacy, the former attorney general is clear that "privacy is a fundamental right", something which even the government has stated in court, but is hopeful that "court takes a pragmatic view of privacy in context of the Aadhaar case." He argues his point by asking "Can a person refuse to share his Aadhaar details at airport, citing his right to privacy, can right to privacy outweigh security of the nation?"

Having recently resigned as the Attorney General, Mukul Rohatgi has now returned to his private practice and says that "he is happy to now view things from a distance."