Instant divorce unconstitutional, says top court
NEW DELHI — India’s Supreme Court on Tuesday banned a rare form of instant divorce sanctioned in its most conservative Muslim communities, saying men could no longer dissolve a marriage simply by stating it three times.
The controversial practice known as instant triple talaq — in which a man tells a woman “I divorce you” three times in succession — is observed in only a handful of countries, including Saudi Arabia.
By a 3-2 judgment, India’s highest court said the practice was un-Islamic and violated India’s constitution, and ordered Parliament to pass a law on the issue within six months.
The decision was hailed as a victory for women’s rights advocates led by Shayara Bano, who filed suit in 2016 after her husband ended their 15year marriage by writing the word “talaq,” or “I divorce you,” three times in a letter sent to her parents’ house.
Other plaintiffs later joined the case, including a woman whose husband divorced her in a letter sent by express mail.
The case generated intense interest in India as other women came forward with stories of how their husbands had dissolved their marriages via text message or, in one case, by placing a newspaper ad.
“I welcome and support the judgment,” Bano told the ANI news agency. “This is a historic day for Muslim women.”
Religious scholars say that according to Islamic law, a divorce must be spread over three months, giving a couple the chance to reconcile. More than a dozen Muslim-majority countries have banned triple
talaq, including Iran and Pakistan, but it has persisted in India because there is no uniform set of laws governing marriage, inheritance and divorce.
The two dissenting judges said India could not outlaw triple talaq because it would infringe on individual freedoms.
India is home to nearly 200 million Muslims — the largest minority in a Hindu-majority country of 1.3 billion people.