The petition claims that Talaq-e-Hasan is arbitrary, irrational, and violates fundamental rights. (File)
A plea has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking to declare 'Talaq-e-Hasan' and all other forms of "unilateral extra-judicial talaq” as void and unconstitutional, claiming they are arbitrary, irrational, and violated fundamental rights.
The petition has been filed by Ghaziabad resident Benazeer Heena, who claims to be a victim of unilateral extra-judicial Talaq-E-Hasan. She has also sought a direction from the Centre to frame guidelines for neutral and uniform grounds of divorce procedure for all citizens.
In Talaq-e-Hasan, talaq is pronounced once a month, over a period of three months. If cohabitation does not resume during this period, the divorce gets formalised after the third utterance in the third month. However, if cohabitation resumes after the first or second utterance of talaq, the parties are assumed to have reconciled. The first and second utterances of talaq are deemed invalid.
Ms Heena, the petitioner, claimed that the police and authorities told her that Talaq-e-Hasan is permitted under Sharia (Islamic law).
“The Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937, conveys a wrong impression that the law sanctions Talaq-e-Hasan and all other forms of unilateral extra-judicial talaq, which is grossly injurious to the fundamental rights of married Muslim women and offends Articles 14, 15, 21 and 25 of the Constitution of India and the international conventions on civil and human rights,” the petition, filed by advocate Ashwani Kumar Dubey, submitted.
It further claimed that while many Islamic nations have restricted such a practice, it continues to vex the Indian society, especially Muslim women like the petitioner.
The petition also claimed that the practice additionally wreaks havoc on many women and their children, especially those belonging to the weaker economic sections of the society.
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