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Talaq-e-Hasan not akin to triple talaq: Supreme Court

Talaq-e-Hasan is the practice of divorce in Muslims, which is pronounced once a month over a period of three months.

New Delhi: ‘Talaq-e-Hasan’ is not akin to triple talaq and the women also have an option of ‘khula’, said Supreme Court on Tuesday. Talaq-e-Hasan is the practice of divorce in Muslims, which is pronounced once a month over a period of three months.

In Islam, a man can give “talaq”, while a woman can part ways with her husband through “khula”.

While hearing a plea seeking to declare ‘Talaq-e-Hasan’ and all other forms of “unilateral extra-judicial talaq as void and unconstitutional”, a bench of Justices S K Kaul and M M Sundresh said if husband and wife cannot live together, it can also grant divorce on the ground of irretrievable breakdown under Article 142 of the Constitution.

The plea had claimed that all forms of talaq were “arbitrary, irrational, and violated fundamental rights”.

PTI has quoted the bench as saying “This is not triple talaq in that sense. Marriage being contractual in nature, you also have an option of khula. If two people cannot live together, we are also granting divorce on ground of irretrievable breakdown of marriage. Are you open to divorce by mutual consent if ‘meher’ (gift given in cash or kind by groom to bride) is taken care of? “Prima facie, I don’t agree with petitioners. I don’t want this to become an agenda for any other reason.”

Senior advocate Pinky Anand appeared for the petitioner Benazeer Heena. She submitted that though the apex court has declared triple talaq unconstitutional, it left the issue of Talaq-E-Hasan undecided. Heena a resident of Ghaziabad had filed the petition claiming to be a victim of Talaq-E-Hasan. She sought a direction to the Centre to frame guidelines for neutral and uniform grounds of divorce and procedure for all citizens.

The top court asked Anand to ask the petitioner if she is willing for settlement by process of divorce on amount being paid over and above ‘meher’.

The matter will now be heard on August 29.

In Talaq-e-Hasan, divorce gets formalised after the third utterance of talaq in the third month if reconciliation is not done or cohabitation is not resumed during this period. However, if reconciliation is done or cohabitation resumes after the first or second utterance of talaq, the parties are assumed to have reconciled and the first or second utterances of talaq are deemed invalid.

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