The case of nikah halala in India, and a long court battle

• Sameena Begum, a Delhi-based victim of instant triple talaq & a fraud marriage approached the SC in 2018 seeking a ban on nikah halala.
• Following her petition, the Court issued notices to the Govt, the NHRC, the National Commission for Women and the National Minorities Commission.

Background

• A PIL seeking the annulment of halala marriage and polygamy was filed.
• It also requested the court that Section 2 of the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937, be declared arbitrary and in violation of Articles 14, 15, 21 and 25 of the Constitution.
• It also requested the court to ensure that provisions of the IPC, 1860, apply to all Indian citizens.
• Also, nikah halala to be considered rape under IPC Section 375.

Religious excerpts

• Koran allows a man to divorce his wife a maximum of two times on both the occasions, separated by at least one menstrual cycle.
• Instant triple talaq is not mentioned anywhere in the Koran.
• The man is allowed to cancel the divorce.
• If the spouses fail to resume cohabitation during this period, they are allowed to remarry without any third-party intervention.
• This can be done only twice.
• If the man takes his wife back after the second pronouncement of divorce and then divorces her for the third time, he is not allowed to marry her again.
• The woman becomes an independent being with full choice over her life.
• Halala
• Empowers women to make independent decisions.
• It saves women from temperamental husbands who divorce in a fit of anger, then cancel it, then divorce again, unleashing an endless cycle of marriage and divorce.
• Often a man pronounces triple talaq in a fit of anger.
• A little later, he realises his mistake and approaches a maulana who often tells him that he has exhausted all three chances at divorce.
• His erstwhile wife is now prohibited to him for reconciliation unless she marries another man, and he either divorces her or dies.
• For marrying back the erstwhile husband, sham marriages are enacted where a woman marries other man with a pre-decided date and time of divorce.
• The nikah is conducted with the understanding that the divorce shall take place the next day after consummation of marriage.
• Usually, nikah halala stems from instant triple talaq and ends with it.

Prevalence of Nikah-halala across the world

• Saudi Arabia: Though divorces are on the rise, no cases of halala have been reported.
• UAE, Kuwait and Yemen: No case has been reported.
• India: Muslim Women’s Protection of Rights on Marriage
• Passed after invalidation of triple talaq by the Supreme Court.
• Made instant triple talaq a criminal offense.
  • But steered clear of halala which takes place as a consequence of triple talaq.
  • iple talaq.