India's top court bans Islamic ‘triple talaq’ instant divorce
The government must now amend the sections of India’s Muslim personal law that allows the practice known as triple talaq
India’s top court on Tuesday banned a controversial Islamic practice that allows men to divorce their wives instantly, saying it was unconstitutional.
Victims of the practice known as “triple talaq”, whereby Muslim men can divorce their wives by reciting the word talaq (divorce) three times, had approached the Supreme Court to ask for a ban.
Triple talaq “is not integral to religious practice and violates constitutional morality,” a panel of Supreme Court judges said.
The five judges were from India’s major faiths – Hinduism, Christianity, Islam, Sikhism and Zoroastrianism.
In their ruling they said it was “manifestly arbitrary” to allow a man to “break down [a] marriage whimsically and capriciously”.
“What is sinful under religion cannot be valid under law,” they said.
The practice had been challenged in lower courts but it was the first time India’s Supreme Court had considered whether triple talaq was legal.