Government set to oppose triple talaq in response to Supreme Court notice

NEW DELHI: The Centre is likely to bat against the practice of triple talaq and in favour of women's rights in response to the Supreme Court notice on the issue. An inter-ministerial committee met on Wednesday to fashion a response to the court's notice on the clutch of public interest litigations filed by several Muslim women.
Several individuals and NGOs have sought a ban on the practices of triple talaq and polygamy.

"Women are moving towards equality the world over. We should move towards that as well," said a source privy to the deliberations. Union ministers, including Rajnath Singh, Arun Jaitley, Manohar Parrikar and Maneka Gandhi, were part of the meeting.

The response to the court will be drafted by the law ministry which is likely to steer clear of recommending a law to ban unilateral triple talaq or implementation of Uniform Civil Code.

Sources said the law ministry will look at international practices. They added that the government was also likely to argue that many Islamic nations, including Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Iraq, have either banned or restricted these practices.

On September 5, the court gave the Centre four weeks to respond on the batch of PILs on triple talaq and the plight of Muslim women.

The All India Muslim Personal Law Board, in its counter affidavit in the SC, had said the contentious issues relating to Muslim practices of polygamy, triple talaq (talaq-e-bidat) and nikah halala are matters of "legislative policy" and cannot be interfered with. The board also said practices provided by Muslim Personal Law on issues of marriage, divorce and maintenance were based on holy scripture (al-Quran) and "courts cannot supplant its own interpretations over the text of scriptures".

In 2015, a high-level committee established by the ministry of women and child development recommended that practices like triple talaq be banned.