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Synopsis

The Supreme Court today was informed by the Union of India that it will file a counter to the plea challenging constitutional validity of the practice of Talaq-e-hasan and other forms of unilateral divorce. Talaq e Hasan is an Islamic form of unilateral divorce in which a husband can divorce his wife by saying the word "talaq" once a month, for three months.

A bench of CJI DY Chandrachud and PS Narasimha also pulled up the husband of the petitioner and asked him what he was doing to take care of his 1.5 year old son.

The PIL plea filed by Benazeer Heena through Advocate Ashwini Upadhyay notes that "Muslim women can’t give Talaq-E-Hasan & other forms of unilateral extra-judicial talaq but Muslim men can."

Today, the petitioner spoke to the court directly and said,

“Why can’t I be given divorce with some respect? Me and my 1.5 year old boy are on the street today! Is Islamic personal law only for men?”

However, the lawyer appearing for the husband stated that he had divorced the petitioner and also provided her with adequate assistance. He has been asked to appear before Supreme Court on the next date, which is 8 weeks from today.

The plea further seeks direction to frame guidelines for gender-neutral, religion-neutral, uniform grounds of divorce & uniform procedure of divorce. As per the plea, Heena has filed the PIL for the development of socially-economically downtrodden and marginalized citizens.

The plea claims that Heena married one Yusuf Naqi as per Muslim rites on December 25, 2020, and a male child was born from wedlock. It has been alleged that Heena's parents were compelled to give dowry and later she was tortured for not getting a big dowry.

The plea further states that Heena's husband and his family members tortured her physically-mentally not only after the marriage but also during the pregnancy which made her seriously ill and when Heena’s father refused to give dowry then her husband gave her Unilateral Extra-Judicial Talaq-E-Hasan through a Lawyer. Heena has argued that such a divorce is totally against Articles 14, 15, 21, 25 of Indian Constitution and United Nations Conventions.

The plea states that "the practice also wreaks havoc to lives of many women and their children, especially those belonging to the weaker economic sections of the society." 

The plea demands the Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act, 1939, to be declared void and unconstitutional for being violative of Articles 14, 15, 21, and 25 in so far as it fails to secure for Muslim women the protection from “Talaq-E-Hasan and other forms of unilateral extra-judicial talaq.

An Intervention application has opposed the plea challenging provisions that allow the practice of Talaq-e-Hasan and other forms of unilateral extrajudicial Talaq's under muslim law.

The application filed by one Qurrat Ul Ain Latif has contended that the petitioner woman has already "benefitted" from this practice of extra-judicial divorce which is already permissible under Shariat.

"In that she was able to exit a bad marriage without having to go to the court and add to pendency of judicial proceedings," the application states.

Case Title: Benazeer Heena Vs. Union of India & Ors.