Talaq or divorce is a way of dissolution of marriage. It is a natural marital right available to both the spouses. Talaq is an Islamic word for divorce, denoting dissolution of marriage when a Muslim man can sever all marital ties with his wife.
There are majorly two ways by which marriage in Islam can be dissolved:
- By the death of a party to the marriage
- By divorce
Dissolution by Divorce is classified into four categories:
- By husband: Talaq, Ila, Zihar
- By wife: Talaq-e-tafwiz
- By mutual consent: Khula and Mubarat
- By judicial decree under the dissolution of Muslim Marriage Act, 1939: Lian and Fask.
Here we are concerned with Talaq which is further divided into two categories:
- Talaq-ul-Sunnat : Ahsan and Hasan
- Talaq-ul-Biddat : Written Divorce and Triple Talaq
Triple Talaq is an irrevocable and instant form of divorce in which the husband pronounces the word “Talaq” repeatedly for three times and dissolves the marriage. Under classical Muslim Sunni law, it is considered as a sinful form of divorce. It is the irregular mode talaq introduced by Omeyyads in order to escape the strictness of law. This practice has been considered as a total injustice towards women as they are left with broken ties and are given no explanations.
The status of Triple Talaq in India has been a subject of controversy and debate. Many issues has been raised on such practice like justice, gender equality, human rights and secularism. The debate has involved the Government of India and the Supreme Court of India, and is connected to the debate about a uniform civil code (Article 44) in India. 23 countries including Pakistan and Iran have abolished Triple Talaq either explicitly or implicitly.
The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2019, was passed by the Indian Parliament as a law on July 30, 2019, to make Triple Talaq a criminal offence. This law makes the instant triple talaq a criminal offence and provides for a jail term of three years for a Muslim man who commits the crime. The law also makes Triple Talaq a cognizable and non-bailable offence. This bill was Introduced in the Lok Sabha by Minister of Law and Justice Ravi Shankar Prasad on June 21, 2019, the Bill replaced an Ordinance promulgated on February 21, 2019.
According to Clause 3 in Chapter 2 of this Bill, “any pronouncement of talaq by a person upon his wife, by words, either spoken or written or in electronic form or in any other manner whatsoever, shall be void and illegal”.
In Sarabhai v. Rabia Bai, it was said that Talaq-ul-Biddat is theologically improper. It has been maintained that this form of Talaq is improper from the moral point of view.
In Shayara Bano v. Union of India, the Apex Court considered the constitutional validity of ‘triple talaq’ (talaq-ul-biddat). The judgment has been pronounced by the Constitutional Bench by 3 : 2 majority. The majority of the Judges held that the exercise of triple divorce by the Muslim husband against his wife in one go is arbitrary and therefore violative of Article 14 of the Constitution.
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