Breaking: Supreme Court Issues Notice To Husbands Of Two Women Aggrieved By Talaq-E-Hasan
The Supreme Court today issued notices to the husbands of the two women who had approached the Court being aggrieved by the Talaq-E-Hasan that they are facing.
The Bench comprising of Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice Abhay S. Oka impleaded the husband of Benazeer Heena and issued notice to the husband to explore the possibility of settlement.
Senior Advocate Shyam Divan told the Court that Benazeer wants to take advantage of the observations in the order of the Supreme Court about divorce by mutual consent.
The Court said that it does not want to entertain any third-party intervention at present about the larger issue of the validity of the form of Talaq. However, Senior Advocate Ranjit Kumar told the Court that the petition of Nazreen Nisha is also a substantial petition by a victim. He told the Court that Nazreen has received the third Talaq by message today morning. He read out the message before the Court.
The Court then impleaded the husband in Nazreen's petition. The Court issued notice to the husband.
Benazeer Heena then addressed the Court with permission from Court. She told the Court about how her husband had issued notice through his lawyer and she was asked to vacate her house. She also told the Court that there are other women facing similar plight, from far-flung villages who are in touch with her. She also told the Court that she wants to reside with her husband.
The Court told her that if the Court considers the larger issue of the validity of the Talaq-E-Hasan, it won't help her. The Court also observed that the amount of Mahr in her case is small.
Background
The Court had on the previous hearing suggested that the petitioner consider whether she is open to divorce by mutual consent if meher is taken care of. The suggestion of the Court came after the observation, "Prima facie this is not improper. Women also have an option of Khula. Prima facie I do not agree with the petitioners. I don't want to make an agenda of it for any other reason."
Benazeer Heena, a journalist, had approached the Supreme Court in the first week of May this year stating that her husband has given her the first notice of Talaq through a Lawyer's notice. In her Petition, Benazeer had also sought direction to the Centre to frame guidelines for uniform grounds of divorce and procedure for all citizens.
Benazeer received her final notice of Talaq vide a Lawyer's notice dated June 20, 2022, but her matter had not been listed before the Court.
Firoz Bakht Ahmed, the former Chancellor of the Maulana Azad National Urdu University and the grandnephew of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad had filed an application for intervention in the petition filed by Benazeer Heena contending that the practice of Talaq-E-Hasan is void and unconstitutional.
A second petition was filed challenging Talaq-e-Hasan, seeking a declaration that all forms of unilateral extrajudicial Talaq including Talaq-e-Hasan by Nazreen Nisha, a Mumbai resident praying for a direction to the Centre to frame guidelines for gender-neutral, religion-neutral uniform grounds of divorce and uniform procedure of divorce for all. She had received Talaq by message on phone.
