The Supreme Court on Monday issued notice to the husband of a woman, who had challenged the constitutional validity of divorce through ‘Talaq-E-Hasan,’ calling it discriminatory against women.
A Bench comprising Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice A.S. Oka impleaded the husband of the petitioner, to explore the possibility of reaching a settlement.
The Apex Court also issued notice to another person, who had given talaq to his wife by wrongful application of Talaq-E-Hasan.
Appearing for the second petitioner, Senior Advocate Ranjit Kumar contended that the woman was given talaq twice by her husband on July 4, 2022, by way of a Whatsapp message. She got the third talaq this morning, added the Counsel.
Kumar said that according to the practice, a man can divorce his wife by pronouncing “talaq” once a month for three months. However in the present case, the husband messaged his wife ‘talaq’ through Whatsapp twice in the month of July and pronounced the word again this morning.
The Bench sought to know whether pronouncing talaq twice simultaneously and then the third one a couple of months later would meet the requirements of the practice.
Kumar contended that the Kaazi had endorsed the veracity of the ‘talaq’ in this case.
A Counsel present in the Court informed the Bench that prima facie it does not seem to qualify as Talaq-E-Hasan. Remedy was available under Section 7 of the Family Court Act, whereby the parties can get a declaration that it was not proper talaq, she added.
Petitioner in the main matter, Benazeer, was present in the Court. Senior Advocate Shyam Divan appeared for her.
The Bench asked her whether she was willing to go back to her husband. She said yes and stated that though her husband was running away from his responsibilities, she will not do the same.
The Court then fixed October 11 as the next date of hearing in the matter.
Case Title : Benazeer Heena v. Union of India And Ors. WP(C) No. 348/2022 (PIL), Nazreen Nisha Kadir Shaikh vesus Union of India WP(c) 603/2022