Ordinance a bid to muzzle dissent: AIMPLB

LUCKNOW: Condemning the ordinance on instant triple talaq, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) on Wednesday described it as undemocratic.

“What was the hurry to bring in the ordinance when the (triple talaq) bill was pending approval before the Rajya Sabha? We are yet to go through the ordinance, but if it is on the same lines as the proposed bill then we will challenge it before the Supreme Court,” said AIMPLB secretary and lawyer Zafaryab Jilani. As of now, the board has decided to adopt a wait-and-watch policy.

Jilani said the legal committee of the AIMPLB, headed by Mumbai high court lawyer Yusuf Muchala, will first study the ordinance and then take a call on what course is to be taken.

“We were in favour of the pending bill being referred to the select committee of Parliament. But by bringing in the ordinance, the Centre has muzzled dissent and wants to avoid discussion,” he said.

The board, which is the apex governing body of Muslims on religious matters, said the ordinance was unwarranted, undemocratic, antiwoman and would destroy families if it was implemented.

“Whatever we have heard from news reports about the ordinance, the terms not only encroach upon the Constitutional guarantees granted to religious minorities but are also against the very essence of the verdict delivered by the Supreme Court on August 22, 2017 in the instant triple divorce matter,” said Jilani.

The Centre had then said it was not keen on bringing any law on the subject, he said.

Highlighting what he described as the inherent contradictions in the law, he said the courts had ruled for maintenance for women and the children by the husband after the divorce. But this was in contradiction of the three-year jail term prescribed in the ordinance.

“How will a person in jail provide maintenance to his wife?” he asked. Jilani said the law was self-contradictory and drafted in a ham-handed manner.

“Moreover, the provisions of the law are contrary to the existing legal provisions already set out in the Guardianship and Custody Act, domestic violence and several established criminal procedure code laws. It (bill) would not stand the scrutiny of courts and would be struck down at the outset,” he said. Not merely instant triple divorce, the proposed law, banned all kinds of divorce and virtually took away the rights of a Muslim husband to annul his marriage, Jilani said. The board said the Centre neither followed the laid down procedure nor consulted the stakeholders while giving shape to the law.Dr Asma Zehra, chief of the AIMPLB women’s wing, said, “Triple talaq ordinance is the failure of the government. No select committee, no discussion in Rajya Sabha, no expert opinion. It won’t give any security to Muslim women. It’s totally against the values of democracy.”