‘Justice for married Muslim women’: Modi govt defends criminalising Triple Talaq

The Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led central government on Monday, August 19, defended its decision to criminalise the practice of Triple Talaq in the Muslim community. Responding to a petition, the central government filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court of India defending the decision and saying that petitioners cannot have grievances with the criminalisation of any “manifestly arbitrary action”.
The Modi government, during its previous term, criminalised the practice of Triple Talaq in 2019.
Triple Talaq is a form of divorce that was practised in Islam, whereby a Muslim man could legally divorce his wife by pronouncing Talaq three times.
On 30 July 2019, the Parliament of India declared the practice of Triple Talaq illegal and unconstitutional and made it a punishable act from 1 August 2019. The pronouncement of Talaq-e-Biddat has no legal effect or consequence under the Indian Constitution.
On Monday, the central government also mentioned that the 2019 Act helped to ensure larger constitutional goals of gender justice and equality of married Muslim women.
It also helps subserve their (married Muslim women’s) fundamental rights of non-discrimination and empowerment, the central government said in the Supreme Court.
The affidavit was filed by the central government in response to a petition that argued that the Supreme Court had already deemed the Triple Talaq as invalid and therefore, did not require the tag of being a criminal offence. Petitioners Samastha Kerala Jamiathul Ulema argued that criminalising the practice of Triple Talaq violated fundamental rights, including those that guarantee Indian citizens equality before the law and prohibited discrimination on the grounds of religion.
In its affidavit, the government mentioned that the invalidation of the Triple Talaq by the Supreme Court in 2017 had no deterring effect on the practice which therefore necessitated the criminalisation process.
On 22 August 2017, the Indian Supreme Court deemed instant Triple Talaq (talaq-e-biddah) unconstitutional.
According to NDTV, the affidavit by the central government read that the practice of Triple Talaq is ‘fatal’ for the institution of marriage in the Muslim community. “Makes Muslim women’s condition very pathetic,” the report quoted the affidavit.
“Victims of ‘Triple Talaq’ have no option but to approach the police… and the police were helpless as no action could be taken against husbands in the absence of punitive provisions in the law. In order to prevent (this) there was an urgent need for stringent (legal) provisions,” the government said, as reported by NDTV.
In 2021, the then Union Minister for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said the cases of instant Triple Talaq had dropped by 80 per cent since the 2019 Act criminalised the practice in India.
“The cases of instant Triple Talaq have dropped by 80 per cent since the Muslim Women (Protection Of Rights On Marriage) Act was enacted on August 1, 2019. In Uttar Pradesh, before the law was enacted, over 63,000 cases were registered but after the enactment of the law, the cases dropped to 221 cases. Bihar registered 49 cases after enactment of the Muslim Women (Protection Of Rights On Marriage) Act,” Naqvi had said.