SC Grants Anticipatory Bail To Kerala Woman, Says Only Muslim Man Can Be Booked Under Triple Talaq Law

There is no bar on granting anticipatory bail to an accused pressed with Muslim Woman Act 2019, provided the court hears complainant woman before granting it, the Supreme Court ruled. The Muslim Woman Act of 2019 makes the practice of instant divorce, “triple talaq” null and void and also makes it a punishable offence. The court also stated that the law against triple talaq can only hold the Muslim man as an accused and it doesn’t apply to his family members. 

The judgement came with regard to a Kerala court case where Muslim woman who is mother to a man booked under triple talaq, had been denied anticipatory bail. 

A bench headed by Justice D Y Chadrachud, Indu Malhotra and Indira Banerjee referred the section 438 of the CrPc and section 7(c)  of the act to state that the Muslim mother-in-law can be granted anticipatory bail if the court hears complainant woman before granting it. The bench also said,  "The prohibition in sections 3 and 4 is evidently one which operates in relation to a Muslim husband alone.” 

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The bench said that this judgement is supported by the “Statement of Objects and Reasons accompanying the Muslim Woman Bill 2019 when it was introduced in the parliament.”

In August last year, a Muslim woman in  Kerala had lodged an FIR against her mother-in-law and husband for alleging harassment and that her husband had pronounced triple talaq on her. The apex court has now granted anticipatory bail to the mother-in-law and stated that the triple talaq law does not apply on her. Read more about the mother-in-law's petition here. 

Section 3 of the Muslim Woman Act of 2019 renders pronouncement of triple talaq by a Muslim man null and void and section 4 of the same act grants punishment of up to three years of jail term to the husband. 

In July 2020, Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi had claimed that since the bill was passed in 2019, there has been an 82 per cent decline in triple talaq cases in India.

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