THE All India Democratic Women’s Association has welcomed the majority judgement in “Shayara Bano v. Union of India and Ors” WP (C) No. 118/2016, in which the Supreme Court has held that triple talaq is arbitrary and un-constitutional. AIDWA, in a statement issued on August 22, has said that it always opposed the unilateral, arbitrary, irrevocable and instantaneous triple talaq, which has always adversely affected the lives of millions of Muslim women. Muslim women have been left traumatised and abandoned without any financial or other recourse after this form of instant talaq, which was increasingly being uttered through electronic and impersonal methods like SMS, Skype, etc. 

AIDWA through its legal cell has fought many such cases of instant talaq and tried to lessen the agony of women who were suddenly and irrevocably abandoned.

Justice Kurian Joseph of the Supreme Court has also rightly held that triple talaq is against the basic tenets of the Quran and violates the Shariat.  He has also quoted the judgement of the Supreme Court in Shamim Ara v. State of UP and stated that the Muslim husband does not enjoy an arbitrary, unilateral power to inflict instant divorce as it does not accord with Islamic injunctions.  Both Justice Kurian Joseph and Justice RF Nariman (writing for himself and Justice UU Lalit) have also held that triple talaq cannot be considered an essential part of Islam and that Hanafi jurisprudence castigates triple talaq as sinful.

AIDWA does not agree with the viewpoint of the minority judgement written by Chief Justice Khehar (writing for himself and Justice Abdul Nazeer), which stays the practice of instant triple talaq for an initial period of six months and directs the government to legislate on this aspect. AIDWA has always opposed the government’s attempt to propagate a uniform civil code and feels that the present regime may use the minority judgment to further promote the uniform civil code and target the Muslim community. This government is not interested in gender-just laws for any community and cannot be relied upon to bring in a law to genuinely protect the interests of women.

AIDWA is studying the judgement and will respond to it in detail in due course.