The All India Muslim Personal law Board (AIMPlB) is ready to grant Muslim women the choice to opt against triple talaq at the time of nikah.
The AIMlB made this big climbdown on the day the Supreme Court reserved its verdict on the validity of the contentious triple talaq issue.
The Constitution Bench hearing the case had asked the Board on Wednesday whether it was prepared to give women the right to say no to triple talaq at the time of marriage. The Bench headed by Chief Justice of India JS Khehar had asked AIMPlB, “Can it be that the AIMPlB passes a resolution binding all Quazis to incorporate a condition in the nikaah nama which gives the woman option to say no to triple talaq before she gives her consent to marry.”
In its reply, AIMPlB counsel and senior advocate Kapil Sibal informed the Bench that the Board met on Wednesday and took a decision to issue a resolution to all Quazis to take the view of the woman on whether she is agreeable to triple talaq. If she registers her protest, it will be placed as a condition in the nikaah nama that will bind both parties to the marriage, Sibal said. However, to what extent the woman can exercise free consent, still remains a concern.
Reserving the order at the end of a six-day hearing, the Bench also comprising Justices Kurian Joseph, Rohington F Nariman, UU lalit, and S Abdul Nazeer, asked Sibal if triple talaq was “sinful” under the Quran and teachings of Sunni Muslim scholars, why was the Board still adamant on continuing with this practice.
To this Sibal replied, “It is sinful. We also don’t want to have this practice. We have already asked Quazis that unless compelling circumstances exist, declaring talaq thrice in one sitting should be avoided.”
But he said this practice whether sinful or not has existed as a practice for last 1,400 years and both men and women follow and accept it. Moreover, this Court is not called upon to decide the sinful practices in the world, he added, indicating several sinful customs given sanction of personal laws in the country. The women petitioners created a commotion as they strongly protested against Sibal’s comment on Muslim women too supporting triple talaq.
Sibal attacked Centre’s argument asking the Court to strike down triple talaq for lacking constitutional morality. He argued, “In the past, whenever Courts have decided on matters of faith, there was a law enacted by Parliament/State legislature, an Ordinance or an executive order before it. Here the Court is called to decide in a legal vacuum. If you start interpreting these matters in the absence of any law, it’s a very dangerous and a slippery slope.”