15.2 C
London
Thursday, March 21, 2024
HomeNewsIndia NewsIndia's top court bans Islamic instant divorce

India’s top court bans Islamic instant divorce

Date:

Related stories

India top court pulls up yoga guru Baba Ramdev over misleading ads

The supreme court on Tuesday (19) directed the personal...

International Yoga Festival concludes at Parmarth Niketan

THE week-long International Yoga Festival at Parmarth Niketan Ashram...

Three Indians among winners of Diana Award

A New Delhi-based innovator whose low-cost electric invention helps...

Amitabh Bachchan admitted to hospital in Mumbai

Megastar Amitabh Bachchan has been hospitalised in Mumbai, according...

‘Polio Paul’ who lived in an iron lung, dies at 78

Paul Alexander, a man whose life was inextricably linked...

India’s top court on Tuesday banned a controversial Islamic practice that allows men to divorce their wives instantly, saying it was unconstitutional. Victims of the practice known as “triple talaq”, whereby Muslim men can divorce their wives by reciting the word talaq (divorce) three times, had approached the Supreme Court to ask for a ban. Triple talaq “is not integral to religious practice and violates constitutional morality,” a panel of Supreme Court judges said.
The five judges were from India’s major faiths — Hinduism, Christianity, Islam, Sikhism and Zoroastrianism. In their ruling they said it was “manifestly arbitrary” to allow a man to “break down (a) marriage whimsically and capriciously”. “What is sinful under religion cannot be valid under law,” they said. The practice had been challenged in lower courts but it was the first time India’s Supreme Court had considered whether triple talaq was legal. India allows religious institutions to govern matters of marriage, divorce and property inheritance in the multi-faith nation, enshrining triple talaq as a legal avenue for its 180 million Muslims to end unions.
But the Hindu nationalist government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi had backed the petitioners in this landmark case, declaring triple talaq unconstitutional and discriminatory against women. Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has long pushed for a uniform civil code, governing Indians of all religions, to be enforced. But the issue remains highly sensitive in India, where religious tensions often lead to violence. The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), a grouping of Islamic organisations, had opposed any efforts to ban triple talaq. Some Islamic scholars say there is no mention of triple talaq in the Koran, which instead details a different process for divorce based on mediation.

Subscribe

- Never miss a story with notifications

- Gain full access to our premium content

- Browse free from up to 5 devices at once

Latest stories

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

8 + nineteen =