“I am happy that the Supreme Court has rendered substantial justice to the Muslim women of the country giving them the protection envisaged in the Constitution of India,” former Supreme Court Judge K.T. Thomas has said.
Speaking to The Hindu here on Tuesday, he pointed out that Chief Justice of India J.S. Khehar maintained that triple talaq, being a personal law, was not unconstitutional. He was supported by S. Abdul Nazeer. But the other three judges Justice Kurian Joseph, Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman, and Justice Uday Lalit took the view that triple talaq was unconstitutional, though on different reasoning.
According to Justice Kurian Joseph, the issue is not res integra because in 2002, the Supreme Court declared in Shamim Ara vs State of UP that triple talaq lacks legal sanctity. So, according to him, it had become the law of the land in India in terms of Article 141. He did not agree with the Chief Justice and Justice Nazeer that a fundamental right as found by them cannot be suspended.
However, the remaining two judges who agreed with Justice Joseph on the conclusion took the view that triple talaq was violative of the fundamental right contained in Article 14 of the Constitution, Mr. Thomas said.