In a landmark judgment, a constitution bench of the Supreme Court on Tuesday held that the practice of instant Triple Talaq is unconstitutional and violative of Articles 14 and 15. The judgment was rendered by a bench including Chief Justice of India, JS Khehar, together with Justices Kurian Joseph, Rohinton Fali Nariman, Uday Umesh Lalit and Abdul Nazeer.
Justices Nariman and Lalit held that instant Triple Talaq is unconstitutional and violative of Article 14, justice Joseph struck down the practice saying that it goes against Shariat and the basic tenets of the Quran. However, chief justice, Khehar and justice Nazeer dissented saying the practice cannot be struck down on the basis of being violative of Article 14, since there is no state action.
As a result, instant triple talaq was held unconstitutional and struck it down by 3:2 majorities.
The judgment came as several Muslim women who have been divorced, including on Skype and WhatsApp, had challenged the instant triple talaq practice. The main petition was by one Shayara Bano. The issue also involved a suo-moto case initiated by the SC in this regard.
The Court had heard the case for six days before reserving its verdict on 18 May this year.
