SC fixes Nov 19-20 for final hearing on pleas against 'Talaq-e-Hasan'

NEw new delhi, The sublime margaret court on mon rigid November 19-20 for the final hearing of pleas seeking declaration of "Talaq-e-Hasan" and all other forms of "unilateral extrajudicial divorce" as unconstitutional. Talaq-e-Hasan is a form of divorce among Muslims through which a man can dissolve the marriage by pronouncing the word "talaq" once every month over a three-month period. A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi, while fixing the date for final hearing on a batch of pleas, including petitions by victims and other aggrieved parties, sought the views of National Commission for Women , National Human Rights Commission and National Commission for Protection of Child Rights. When the bench enquired about Centre’s view, its counsel Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay said it had not file any counter affidavit in the matter as such but given views in Triple Talaq case in which they have opposed all forms of "unilateral extrajudicial divorce". The top court allowed all the intervention applications and said they could assist the court in the hearing. "If there is any material including some books or scriptures that may be produced. An opinion of the NCW, NHRC and NCPCR should be on record for proper assistance. We request ASG K M Nataraj to seek instructions and ensure that their opinions are brought on record," the bench said. When one of the counsel appearing for opposing parties said there could be issues of maintainability and locus of petitioners challenging the Talaq-e-Hasan, the bench said the victims and aggrieved parties were before it and there couldn't be an issue over locus standi and maintainability as a result. "We should not be worried about technicalities at this stage. There are individuals who are affected and are before this court. We will look into it,” the bench said, adjourning the matter. The apex court was hearing nine petitions, including the one filed by Ghaziabad resident Benazeer Heena, claiming to be aggrieved by Talaq-e-Hasan. They have also sought a direction to the Centre to frame the guidelines for gender and religion-neutral and uniform grounds of divorce and procedure for all citizens. The top court had previously impleaded husbands of the petitioners and sought their replies on the pleas. On October 11, 2022, the top court admitted the pleas challenging the practice and all other forms of unilateral extrajudicial divorce and sought directions to declare them unconstitutional. The top court in August, 2022 said its primary focus was to provide relief to women, who claimed to be victims of Talaq-e-Hasan, before deciding the constitutional validity of this form of divorce. Under Talaq-e-Hasan, a divorce gets formalised after the third utterance of the word talaq in the third month if cohabitation has not resumed during this period. However, if cohabitation resumes after the first or second utterance of talaq, the parties are assumed to have reconciled. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.