Picture Courtesy : India.com
A five-judge constitution bench of the Supreme Court by 3:2 majority in a historic decision struck down triple talaq, or instant divorce, practice as unconstitutional.
According to Times of India news report, Chief Justice J S Khehar and justice S Abdul Nazeer held triple talaq to be part of fundamental right to religion of Muslims and said it was not unconstitutional.
But, Justices Kurian Joseph, R F Nariman and U U Lalit said triple talaq violated the fundamental right of Muslim women as they are subjected to arbitrary irrevocable divorce through this practice.
CJI Khehar and Justice Nazeer, even while holding triple talaq to be valid, ordered a stay on this practice for six months to enable legislature bring a law banning this practice.
They said if a legislation banning triple talaq completely is placed before Parliament within six months, the stay on the practice would continue till Parliament enacted or rejected the law.
But, justices Joseph, Nariman and Lalit through different reasonings reached the conclusion that triple talaq was unconstitutional.
Triple talaq is legal for Muslims according to the constitution, but several Muslim women who have been divorced, including by Skype and on WhatsApp, had challenged the 1400-year-old practice.
As soon as the SC verdict came in reactions started coming in from the political circles :
First to do was the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who tweeted his reaction on the Supreme Court verdict.
Judgment of the Hon’ble SC on Triple Talaq is historic. It grants equality to Muslim women and is a powerful measure for women empowerment.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 22, 2017
Union Finance and Defence Minister Arun Jaitley too tweeted his reaction
undoes the injustice to Muslim women who were victims of a unilateral termination of a matrimonial relationship. (2/2)
— Arun Jaitley (@arunjaitley) August 22, 2017
