NIKAH HALALA CAN’T BE GIVEN UP, SAYS BOARD

NEW DELHI: As the Supreme Court prepares to hear a batch of petitions challenging Nikah Halala, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board has come up with the age-old defence, asserting that the practice “cannot be challenged since it is Quranic”. The board held its review meeting in New Delhi on Sunday, where issues pertaining to the community were discussed at length. AIMPLB secretary and legal counsel Zafaryab Jilani told News18 after the meeting that “Nikah Halala cannot be challenged”. “Nikah Halala is a practice where you cannot marry your wife again after divorce unless she marries and consummates the marriage with someone else. It is a must that the wife is divorced again. This is as per the Quran and the board cannot have a different opinion,” said Jilani. However, responding to a question on several Nikah Halala rackets being run for money and the exploitation of women, Jilani added that a “Nikah with an intention to have Halala is not valid” and the “culprits should be arrested as per law”. The board also decided that Shariat courts will be opened across 10 cities in India, with the inauguration of the first one scheduled in Surat on July 22. Maharashtra will get a Darul Qaza in Mhearaj by September 9 and a Shariat court by the end of November. Darul Qaza centres traditionally deal with matters allowed under the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937. Individuals can bring matrimonial and property disputes before such centres. At present, their scope is limited to seminaries.

“There is no question of Shariat courts being unconstitutional. The apex court has itself ruled that Shariat courts are not parallel to Indian courts established as per the Constitution, and hence there is no question of them being illegal,” said Jilani.