Muslim women move Supreme Court against nikah halala, polygamy

Muslim women have challenged the practices of nikah halala and polygamy before the Supreme Court.

A petition was filed before the Supreme Court challenging the practice of nikah halala and polygamy within the community. After repealing the practice of triple talaq in the year 2017, a constitutional bench of the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear the petition in batches after three weeks, as per the source.

It has been said that the bench would hear one issue per week. In view of the petition by women of the Muslim community, a five-judge bench headed by Justice Indira Banerjee issued a notice. The Centre, NCW (National Commission for Women, National Commission for Minorities and NHRC (National Human Rights Commission) have been directed to draft a reply to the batch of pleas.

The matter has been listed for hearing after the Dussehra festival.

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Nikah halala, also referred to as tahleel marriage, is a practice wherein a married woman is divorced by her husband, remarries another man and gets divorced again in order to remarry her first husband.

The practice of nikah halala, amongst others, is opposed by Muslim women as they perceive it as a threat to their dignity and liberty on the pretext of religious observance. In an exclusive conversation with India Today, one of the petitioners, Sameena Begum, said that they have been awaiting justice and several Muslim women have moved the SC against such religious practices.

"Muslim women are supporting the ban on halala, polygamy, and want the Uniform Civil Code," she said.