ON the third episode of The Leaflet podcast series, our host Gursimran Kaur Bakshi interacts with author and journalist, Ziya Us Salam. The episode has our guest Salam explaining how Talaq-E-Hasan mode of divorce, in which talaq is pronounced with an interval of at least one month or one menstrual cycle, can withstand legal scrutiny.
Two Public Interest Litigation petitions have been filed by Benazeer Hina from Ghaziabad and Nazreen Nisha from Mumbai before the Supreme Court. Both these petitions have challenged the validity of Talaq-E-Hasan as arbitrary and contrary to Articles 14, 15, 21 and 25 of the Constitution. The petitioners have also prayed to declare Section 2 of the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937, which permits Muslims to practice unilateral divorce, void.
These petitions have been filed five years after the Supreme Court declared instant triple talaq as void, illegal and unconstitutional in Shayara Bano versus Union of India & Ors(2017).
While avoiding any reference to the sub-judice case before the Supreme Court, Salam explains why the exercise of Talaq-E-Hasan should not be referred to as unilateral since Quran also prescribes Khula which is an inalienable right solely given to women. Salam suggests that to ensure that there is no misuse of the prescribed modes of divorce, the parties need proper awareness of the Quran and the rights granted in it.
The podcast was recorded on August 10, 2022.
References:
- Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937
- Shayara Bano versus Union of India(2017)
- Ziya Us Salam, Till Talaq Do Us Part: Understanding Talaq, Triple Talaq and Khula, Penguin, April 2018, 240 pages, ₹399.
- Ziya Us Salam, “The judicial validity of the Talaq-e-Hasan mode of divorce“, The Hindu, June 21, 2022.
- Saahas Arora and Gunjan Suyol, “In defence of talaq-e-hasan“, The Leaflet, July 20, 2022
- Gursimran Kaur Bakshi, “Absence of dignity in divorce is the ground for challenging Talaq-E-Hasan, says petitioner before the Supreme Court”, The Leaflet, August 10, 2022
