Women celebrate the Supreme Court verdict on triple talaq in Mumbai on Tuesday. Prashant Nadkar
HOURS AFTER the Supreme Court struck down instant triple talaq on Tuesday, Congress leaders were divided on whether a law should be enacted on the subject even as they welcomed the ruling. While former Law minister and senior Congress leader M Veerappa Moily said Parliament will have to pass a legislation to give effect to the order, at the party’s official briefing, Congress communication department head Randeep Surjewala said there is “no need to bring a law” once the Supreme Court has quashed it.
The government is of the opinion that there is no need for immediate legislation, as the practice of instant triple talaq has been declared unconstitutional by the apex court. Welcoming the Supreme Court decision, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi tweeted, “I congratulate the women who fought for justice.”
Moily told The Indian Express, “This should not be a political agenda of any party. The BJP has projected (the judgment) as a political agenda, which is not proper; it is a social agenda. There are personal laws in this country — not only for Muslims but also for Hindus and Christians…. While you deal with that, you have to extra-careful. That is why the Congress is not taking it as a political agenda.”
Stating that a legislation “has to be made” following a “a wider consultation”, Moily said, “I don’t think the Supreme Court’s decision as such can be implemented. It has to be brought to Parliament, and the government should think of that process. Before they draft a Bill, there should be a consensus — personal laws of any community, any religion is a very sensitive issue, and (we) will have to deal with it properly.”
Surjewala, however, said, “Justice Khehar has in his minority view said clearly (that) he does not propose to interfere because it is a 1,400-year-old practice. The remaining three judges have said that a practice, that is unrecognised by the core of Islamic jurisprudence for which there are two essential sources – the Holy Quran and the Hadith – is unacceptable, irrespective of the period for which it may have been followed. So I think that has been decided: there is no need or occasion to bring any law any further.”
“Majority judgement is a resounding affirmation of gender justice and of equality of spouses.Triple talaq was a distortion of original Quranic legal principles. Good it has been declared unconstitutional,” senior Congress leader P Chidambaram tweeted. A senior Union minister said, “What would you abolish through a legislation? The practice has already been declared illegal…(the SC) judgment has already declared the state of law.”
The minister added that clauses in existing marriage laws can be applied against those still instant triple talaq. Asked why he thought there should be a legislation, Moily said, “Without a law, how can you do that (implement the court’s verdict)? You are interfering with the personal law of a community. You want to undo that (instant triple talaq), you will have to bring a legislation – legislation is a must.”
“To give effect to such an intent….amendment to personal law, you will have to bring a legislation,” he added. “Parliament has to legislate. Before that there should be a national consensus arising out of national consultation…and appropriate ecosystem should also be created…by a proper understanding and not by creating a sense of intolerance for any religion,” he added.
Surjewala said, “The verdict is an affirmation of the rights of women and gives relief to them against being subjected to discrimination by a practice that had been perverted over the years. We welcome the acceptance of this reality by (the) court.” Surjewala said that even the Muslim Personal Law Board had pleaded before Supreme Court that the practice of ‘instant triple talaq’ is per se wrong. “The Supreme Court verdict is a culmination and acceptance of this wider wisdom, as also recognition of the rights of Muslim women,” he said.
