PULLQUOTE

“Triple talaq is there since 637. Who are we to say that this is un-Islamic? Muslims [have been] practising it for [the] last 1,400 years... triple talaq is not a matter of equity and good conscience. It is a matter of faith. Why should the court intervene?”

“The Centre will step in... The practice of triple talaq is discriminatory in three ways. It puts Muslim women in a disadvantageous position within the community, vis-a-vis women of the other community and also at the international level...”

KAPIL SIBAL, representing the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, and MUKUL ROHATGI, putting forward the government’s argument, summed up the debate for the five-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court. The court has the unenviable task of deciding on a vexed social issue with far-reaching political ramifications.