New Delhi: After abolishing Triple Talaq, the Supreme Court of India on Monday has agreed to examine the constitutional validity of the polygamy and ‘Nikah Halala’ among Muslims.
While seeking a response from the Government of India and the Law Commission, the apex court has referred the matter to a constitution bench.
While polygamy allows a Muslim man to have four wives, ‘Nikah Halala’ deals with the process in which a Muslim woman has to marry another person and get divorced from him before being allowed to marry her divorcee husband again.
ALSO READ: What the Triple Talaq Bill is, and how it’s anti-women and anti-Muslim at the same time
The bench was hearing at least three petitions including some PILs challenging the practices of polygamy and nikah halala on various grounds including that they violate Right to Equality and gender justice. In one of the petitions moved March 14 to the apex court, a woman, who claimed to be a victim of such practices, contended that the Muslim personal law rendered Section 494 (marrying again during the lifetime of husband or wife) of the IPC inapplicable to Muslims and no married woman from the community can file a complaint against her husband over bigamy.
ASLO READ: Triple Talaq must go, but not by a right-wing intervention propagating Hindu supremacy
“This is in blatant contravention of Articles 14 (equality before law), 15 (prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth) and 21 (right to life and personal liberty) of the Constitution,” the petition filed through BJP leader and advocate Ashwani Kumar Dubey said.
“The practice of polygamy is neither harmonious with the modern principles of human rights and gender equality, nor an integral part of Islamic faith,” the plea said.
