निकाह हलाला और कोर्ट केस

The case of nikah halala in India, and a long court battle

1 What is it and why are women seeking an annulment of halala marriage? 
2 How does it affect Muslim women of the country? 
3 When is the court going to hear it?

23/09/2022 

Sameena Begum, a Delhi-based victim of instant triple talaq and fraud marriage, approached the Supreme Court in 2018 seeking a ban on nikah halala.

•  The five-judge Bench headed by Justice Indira Banerjee shall hear the case this October.

The Koran allows a man to divorce his wife - a maximum of two times. On both the occasions, separated by at least one menstrual cycle — instant triple talaq is not mentioned anywhere in the Koran — he is allowed to cancel the divorce.

हलाला पर चुप्पी -  In India, the Muslim Women’s Protection of Rights on Marriage, passed after invalidation of triple talaq by the Supreme Court, is silent on nikah halala.

स्टोरी - 

 Sameena Begum, a Delhi-based victim of instant triple talaq and a fraud marriage approached the Supreme Court in 2018 seeking a ban on nikah halala. 

Following her petition, the Court issued notices to the Government of India, the National Human Rights Commission, the National Commission for Women and the National Minorities Commission. The five-judge Bench headed by Justice Indira Banerjee shall hear the case this October.

Why did Sameena Begum approach the Supreme Court?

Sameena Begum filed a PIL     -  

• seeking the annulment / निरस्त of halala marriage and polygamy बहुपत्नी .

 

• She requested the court that Section 2 of the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937, be declared arbitrary and in violation of Articles 14, 15, 21 and 25 of the Constitution.

•  She has also requested the court to ensure that provisions of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, apply to all Indian citizens. She contended that nikah halala is rape under IPC Section 375.

 एक और केस 

She was not alone in seeking annulment of nikah halala. With her was Farzana Parveen who used to live in Noida with her husband Abdul Qadir.

 Qadir pronounced triple talaq but later put a condition to accept her back: she should undergo halala marriage. Parveen refused to marry another man for the sake of getting back to Qadir. Instead, she sought judicial redress, seeking a ban on nikah halala.

कुरान में तलाक का उल्लेख 

The Koran allows a man to divorce his wife a maximum of two times. On both the occasions, separated by at least one menstrual cycle — instant triple talaq is not mentioned anywhere in the Koran — he is allowed to cancel the divorce. 

If the spouses NOT cohabitation / शादी के बिना सम्बन्ध  during this period, they are allowed to remarry without any third-party intervention.This can be done only twice.

 If the man takes his wife back after the second pronouncement of divorce and then divorces her for the third time, he is not allowed to marry her again. The woman becomes an independent being with full choice over her life.

महिलाओं को फायदा 

Halala, the way the Koran speaks of it, empowers women to take independent decisions. It saves women from temperamental husbands who divorce in a fit of anger, then cancel it, then divorce again, unleashing an endless cycle of marriage and divorce.

इस्लाम में औरत को तीन तलाक़ देने के बाद दोबारा उसी औरत से विवाह करने की प्रक्रिया को निकाह हलाला कहते हैं। यह विवाह (निकाह) मुख्य रूप से सुन्नी मुसलमानों के कुछ संप्रदायों द्वारा किया जाता है क्योंकि शरिया के मुताबिक अगर किसी पुरुष ने औरत को तीन तलाक दे दिया है तो उस पुरुष ने उस औरत का अपमान किया है, इस लिए अब वह पुरुष उस औरत से दोबारा तब तक शादी नहीं कर सकता जब तक वह औरत किसी दूसरे पुरुष से शादी कर तलाक न ले ले, दूसरे पति को तलाक देने पर मजबूर नहीं किया जा सकता, अगर वह तलाक देना न चाहे तो यह दोनों पति-पत्नी के रिश्ते के साथ जीवन बिताएंगे। 

अतः निकाह हलाला के लिए, तलाकशुदा महिला किसी दूसरे पुरुष से शादी कर लेती है, उस पुरुष के साथ विवाह की संसिद्धि करती है और तलाक लेती है ताकि उसे अपने पहले पति से पुनर्विवाह करना उचित हो सके।^[1] निकाह हलाला एक प्रक्रिया है जिसके हिसाब से अगर आपने अपनी पत्नी को तीन बार तीन तलाक दे दिया तो आप उससे तब तक दोबारा विवाह नहीं कर सकते जब तक वो एक बार फिर किसी और से शादी न कर ले।^[2] साथ ही वह अपने दूसरे पति के साथ शारीरिक संबंध भी बनाए।

The Indian reality is way removed from the scriptural injunctions. Often a man pronounces triple talaq in a fit of anger. A little later, he realises his mistake and approaches a maulana who often tells him that he has exhausted all three chances at divorce; his erstwhile/ भूतपूर्व  wife is now prohibited to him for reconciliation unless she marries another man, and he either divorces her or dies.

 For the purpose of going back to the erstwhile husband, sham marriages are enacted wherein a woman marries another man with a pre-decided date and time of divorce. 

The nikah is conducted with the understanding that the divorce shall take place the next day after consummation / सेक्स of marriage. Usually, nikah halala stems from instant triple talaq and ends with it.

Is nikah halala prevalent across the globe?

• In Saudi Arabia, where divorces are on the rise, no cases of halala have been reported. 

• No case has been reported from the UAE, Kuwait and Yemen either. 

• In India, the Muslim Women’s Protection of Rights on Marriage, passed after invalidation of triple talaq by the Supreme Court, is silent on nikah halala. 

• The Act made instant triple talaq a criminal offence but steered clear of halala which takes place as a consequence of triple talaq. 

• If the first husband is punished for giving her instant triple talaq, the second for doing likewise / उसी प्रकार to facilitate / आसान बनाना  her return to her former husband, where does that leave the woman?

source the hindu