Apex court turns down pleas against triple talaq ordinance

The Supreme Court Friday refused to entertain a batch of pleas challenging the constitutional validity of the provisions of the September 19 ordinance which make the practice of instant ‘triple talaq’ a punishable offence.

The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Ordinance was notified on September 19, hours after the Union cabinet had cleared it.

Under the ordinance, instant ‘triple talaq’ has been declared as illegal and void and will attract a jail term of three years for the husband.

Seeking to allay the fears that the proposed law could be misused, the government has also included certain safeguards, such as adding a provision of bail for the accused before the trial.

The petitions challenging the constitutional validity of provisions of the ordinance came up for hearing on Friday before the bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices KM Joseph and Hemant Gupta.

The bench told the lawyers appearing for the petitioners that an ordinance has a life of six months. It also observed that the winter session of Parliament was coming up. “We are not inclined to entertain it,” the bench said, after which the petitioners withdrew their pleas.

One of the advocates appearing for the petitioners said that the ordinance was a “fraud” on the Constitution.

One petitioner, Kerala-based Muslim organisation Samastha Kerala Jamiyyathul Ulama, had claimed in its plea that the ordinance promulgated by the Centre was “arbitrary and discriminatory”, violative of Articles of Constitution including Article 14 (equality before law) and should be struck down.

NEW DELHI: