Supreme Court seeks data on FIRs filed against Muslim men in Triple Talaq case

New Delhi, January 29: The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the Centre to submit an affidavit detailing the total number of FIRs registered and charge sheets filed under the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019. This law criminalizes Triple Talaq, making it punishable by up to three years in prison for the husband.

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A bench led by Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and Justice PV Sanjay Kumar asked the Centre to provide information on how many FIRs have been filed against Muslim men under this law and the number of pending cases. The court also directed all parties involved in the case to submit written submissions and scheduled the next hearing for the week beginning March 17.

At the start of the hearing, Chief Justice Khanna asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Centre, if he could provide the court with details on the total number of FIRs filed under the law and the cases pending in courts. Mehta agreed to provide the required information.

Senior advocate MR Shamshad, representing petitioners challenging the law, argued that in matrimonial cases, FIRs are typically not filed for months, but in Triple Talaq cases, FIRs are registered immediately after the words are uttered. "You throw a woman out of your life and house by the mere utterance of the word," he said. Advocate Nizam Pasha, also representing petitioners, argued that the criminalization of mere words is unjust, pointing out that abandonment isn't a criminal offense for other communities.

Solicitor General Mehta responded, stating that Triple Talaq is not a practice in other communities. The Chief Justice clarified that while no one in the courtroom was defending Triple Talaq, the issue at hand was whether it could be criminalized now that the practice is banned and no divorce can occur by uttering "Talaq" three times.

The Supreme Court was hearing a group of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the 2019 Act. Among the petitioners were politician and Islamic scholar Amir Rashadi Madni, as well as two organizations: Samastha Kerala Jamaithul Ulema and Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind. The petitioners sought an interim stay on the law, which came into effect on August 1, 2019, after receiving presidential assent. Samastha Kerala Jamaithul Ulema, a Kerala-based Sunni Muslim cleric organization, argued that the law violated fundamental rights and could lead to public mischief, societal polarization, and disharmony. The petitioners claimed that the law’s primary objective was to "punish Muslim husbands."

Earlier, the Centre had filed an affidavit in the case, defending the law and stating that the state could use criminal law to uphold the sanctity of marriage. Triple Talaq was abolished on August 22, 2017, when the Supreme Court declared the practice void.