Three SC benches to hear triple talaq, WhatsApp, Assam citizenship cases in summer vacation

NEW DELHI: Three Constitution benches will sit in the summer vacation of the Supreme Court to grapple with complex issues such as the legality of triple talaq and the right to dignity of Muslim women, WhatsApp's implications on citizen's right to privacy and the vexed citizenship tangle in Assam.

There will also be at least one regular bench which will deal with routine cases during the court vacation. This means a minimum of 17 judges of the top court will be sitting at least half the vacations in a bid to bring down the number of cases pending before it.

The three Constitution benches will sit simultaneously, Chief Justice JS Khehar said on Thursday during a preliminary hearing on a slew of petitions challenging the practice of triple talaq, which allows Muslim men to divorce their wives by uttering the word 'talaq' thrice.

Though the top court had earlier laid down safeguards such as no instant talaq over the social media, these are often ignored.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal objected to three five-judge benches sitting together, saying it would be impossible to prepare for such complicated issues in such a short time.

"I consent to only taking up the triple talaq issue in the vacations. I withdraw my consent for the others," he said.

The CJI said the matters were posted with the consent of parties. "If you don't want us to hear it, we won't. Then these cases won't get heard for years. Then don't blame us. Don't say pending cases, arrears," the CJI said. The CJI said the benches will hear the three important cases side by side. "There shall be no change," he added.

The top court's attempt to hear the matters during the summer recess is not only a bid to cut the long list of cases pending before it - more than 60,000 cases at the last count - but also to decide on complex issues involving interpretation of the Constitution which have piled up over the years for lack of adequate judge strength in the court.

Having these issues heard by a Constitution bench during normal working days would mean less number of judges to deal with other cases.