The All India Muslim Personal Law Board is likely to oppose any move to scrap triple talaq and the Shayara Bano case which had called it unconstitutional in the Supreme Court.
As per a report by ToI, the AIMPLB had last week decided to thwart any attempt by the Centre or “any authority” in the Muslim personal law to scarp triple talaq.
The SC has accepted the board as a party in the case. Now, the board will seek a similar intervention in the Shayara Bano case,” lawyer Zafaryab Jilani was quoted as saying.
Interestingly, the All India Muslim Women Personal Law Board (AIMWPLB) president Shaista Ambar had also called for nullifying the triple talaq system.
Terming the triple talaq system as un-Islamic and an evil practice, Shaista had said that she would leave no stones unturned to nullify the instant way of divorcing.
A high-level committee set up by the Central government to review the status of women in India had recently recommended a ban on the practice of oral, unilateral and triple talaq (divorce) and polygamy – a demand already made by a majority of Indian Muslim women.
The assessment of family laws governing Muslim community members is part of a voluminous report submitted last year by the panel appointed by the previous Congress-led UPA government.
The recommendations of the panel support the demand for the ban on the grounds that such talaq renders “wives extremely vulnerable and insecure regarding their marital status”.
The panel, in its report, had recommended specific amendments to the Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act 1939 coupled with suggestions for introducing provisions to provide interim maintenance.
The report states that payment of maintenance to the wife and children must be made mandatory in the event of separation or divorce.
The landmark ruling of the Supreme Court in 1985 in the Shah Bano case recognised the Muslim woman’s right to maintenance, but was never actually codified in the Muslim personal law.
Last month, the SC had admitted the petition of Shayara Bano from Uttarakhand seeking triple talaq to be declared unconstitutional. The apex court had also initiated suo motu proceedings to examine the need for protecting the rights of all Muslim women. AIMPLB is all set to become a party to the case.
