Approach:
- Introduction
- Mention the reasons for prevalence of Triple Talaq in India.
- Mention the positives of judicial pronouncements.
- Also briefly state the limitations.
- Conclusion
Triple talaq is banned in Pakistan, Bangladesh and across the Islamic world; the practice of talaq-ul-bidat or “triple talaq” persists in India, home to the world’s third-largest Muslim population.
Why it is still practiced in India ? : Under British colonial rule, India’s various religious groups were permitted to organize their own personal affairs, including marriage and divorce. To this day, Indian law says Muslims can be being governed by the shariah, or Islamic jurisprudence. One of the reasons triple talaq has remained legal so long is the fear, propounded by Muslim community leaders, that if the government is allowed to tamper with Islamic personal laws, it might one day scrap them completely, and the Hindu majority domination will increase. To gain a command over vote bank on the ground of the religious attachment & sensitivity many political leaders partially supported to the system.
Extent to which judicial pronouncements have been successful :
Indian Judiciary has always seen Triple Talaq cases with the lenses of Fundamental Rights (Article 14, 15, 29 &30) and Uniform Civil Code (Article 44).
- Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 and Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986 have been liberally interpreted & used by courts to award justified grants to divorced women.
- Shah Bano case supreme court tried to justify gender equality and upheld the general enshrined in the constitution.
- Again, in Jiauddin Ahmed vs Anwara Begum, the Guwahati High Court said that a talaq must be “for a reasonable cause” and must be preceded by attempts at reconciliation.
- Shayra Bano has again forced SC to ask Govt. for creating consensus for UCC.
- India’s Supreme Court looks set to declare triple talaq unconstitutional. Banning the custom would free up to 90 million Muslim women in the country from a potential trapdoor divorce.
However, the complication arises because there is no law under which a Muslim husband can approach court for divorce. If a Muslim husband were to do so, his application will be dismissed by courts. The law doesn’t state the minimum age of marriage, the procedure for divorce, or polygamy, or the guardianship of children. Male-dominated groups such as the All-India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) have filled the gap, pushing an interpretation of the Qur’an.
Article 44 is a directive principle and courts can’t directly enforce this until the Parliament decides to convert them into enforceable goal. India’s people also need to grasp the fact that laws alone cannot solve all problems and they need to be aware of their rights.