Nikah Halala Case: Supreme Court Allows Centre to File Reply, Petitioner Claims Receiving Rape Threats

New Delhi, July 2: The Supreme Court has allowed Centre to file a reply in the Nikah Halala Case but  has said no to urgent hearing in the Nikah Halala case and polygamy matter. The Centre has also sought time to file its response in the case. On June 29, hearing a batch of petitions challenging the practices of Nikah Halala and polygamy, a bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justice A M Khanwilkar and Justice D Y Chandrachud by its March 26 orders had said the matter would be heard by the constitution bench. While referring the matter to the constitution bench, and sought the Central government's response.

Ashwini Upadhyay,lawyer for petitioner in the Nikah Halala case, talking to news agency ANI said that the "Petitioner is being threatened that she will be raped and killed. We mentioned this before SC, they said they'll hear the matter soon. ASG Tushar Mehta,appearing for central govt,said they will file a written statement soon."

The government is likely to maintain its stance that the “issue of validity of triple talaq, Nikah Halala and polygamy needs to be considered in the light of principles of gender justice and the overriding principle of non-discrimination, dignity and equality”.

The petitions were filed by Sameena Begum, Nafisa Khan, Moullium Mohsin and BJP leader and advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay challenging the practice of polygamy, nikah halala, nikah mutah and nikah misyar on the grounds of these being violative of Article 14, Article 15 and Article 21 of the Constitution.

Article 14 guarantees equality before law, Article 15 prohibits discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth and Article 21 guarantees protection of life and personal liberty. Polygamy is a practice followed in Muslim community where men are allowed to have multiple wives.

Under nikah halala, if a Muslim woman after being divorced by her husband three times at different instances wants to go back to him, then she has to marry another person and then divorce the second husband to get re-married to her first husband. The Supreme Court, last year, had declared triple talaq unconstitutional by 3:2 majority.

The government on June 29 had said that it would oppose in the Supreme Court the practice of 'nikah halala', which allows a man to remarry his divorced wife, when the top court examines its legal validity in the coming days, a senior Law Ministry functionary said today.

The government believes that the practice is against the principles of gender justice and had made its stand clear in the apex court on the issue, the functionary said.

But the top court had then decided to only take up the issue of instant triple talaq and consider the issues of nikah halala and polygamy separately. In March, the Supreme Court had issued notice to the Centre on the issue of nikah halala and polygamy.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 02, 2018 10:58 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).