The apex court by its October 16 order had directed its registry to file a PIL to address the issue of the rights of Muslim women in respect of concerning marriage, divorce and maintenance.
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Seeking to oust the courtds from interfering with matters of personal law, the AIMPLB said that “personal laws of a community cannot be re-written in the name of social reform”, and Muslim personal law can’t be challenged as it is a right rooted in religion based on Quran and Sunnat.
The apex court is also going to make a ruling on halala (remarriage to the same partner after the divorced woman consummates her marriage with another man and gets divorced) and polygamy. “In such situations, triple talaq is a better recourse”, the statement said.
“Marriage is a contract in which both parties are not physically equal”.
“An unlawful mistress is more harmful for social fabric than a lawful second wife”, the AIMPLB said in its repose to suo motu petition on the rights of Muslim women concerning marriage, divorce and maintenance and whether the current practices under Muslim Personal Law was violative of the fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution. A male is stronger and female is a weaker sex.
This is not the first such type of petition that has been presented before the Supreme Court as Uttarakhand-based Shayara Banu and the Rashtrawadi Muslim Mahila Sangh, through its president Farah Faiz, have raised similar queries. It also added that personal laws can’t be challenged as it’s violation of Part III of the Constitution.
“The Uniform Civil Code is a directive principle and not enforceable”. It guarantees civil liberties such that all Indians can lead their lives in peace and harmony as citizens of India, The civil liberties are equality before law, freedom of speech and expression, and peaceful assembly, freedom to practice religion, and the right to constitutional remedies for the protection of civil rights by means of writs such as habeas corpus.
The court tagged the petition, filed through advocate V K Biju, with a bunch of other pleas which are scheduled to come up for hearing on September 6.
Triple talaq (Talaq-e-bidat) is a Muslim man divorcing his wife by pronouncing more than one talaq in a single tuhr (the period between two menstruations), or in a tuhr after coitus, or pronouncing an irrevocable instantaneous divorce at one go (unilateral triple-talaq).
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The apex court, which said it has an open mind about the issue, had called for a larger debate on the matter.
