Triple talaq is cruel, says Allahabad High Court

Lucknow/New Delhi: The Allahabad High Court  on Thursday termed triple talaq unconstitutional and violative of Muslim women’s rights, saying no personal law can be above a country’s constitution.

The court’s observation that the practice “impedes and drags India from becoming a nation” echoes Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s public stand and his government’s recent submission on the contentious issue in the Supreme Court.

The government welcomed the court’s observation. Union minister  M. Venkaiah Naidu said that the Constitution was “supreme” and justice should be done to India’s women without discrimination. The High Court said that triple talaq was a cruel and most demeaning form of divorce. “Women cannot remain at the mercy of a patriarchal setup  and sundry clerics who have their own interpretation of the holy Quran,” the court said.

The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) said that it does not support the High Court’s observation.

Will appeal to top court, says Muslim board
AIMPLB's Maulana Khalid Rashid Firangi Mahali said, “Our legal committee will study the case  we will appeal in the higher court if necessary.”

The board is backing the practice in its submissions in the Supreme Court said The high court observed that divorce is permissible in Islam only in case of extreme emergency. When all efforts for effecting reconciliation have failed, the parties may proceed to dissolution of marriage by talaq, it said.