Triple Talaq On WhatsApp: Hyderabad HC Questions Govt

The ongoing debate on Triple Talaq sees no near closure. In a new development, two Muslim men, who happen to be brother, divorced their wives through WhatsApp messages. The Hyderabad High Court has now admitted a case filed against the illegal nature of divorce through WhatsApp and issued a notice on Monday to the secretary to ministry of minority welfare, principal secretary to state minority welfare, principal secretary to home chief executive officer of the state Wakf board and others.

The notice questions all the authorities to explain how the rights of Muslim women in such scenarios can be protected.

ALSO READ: Muslim Women Need Sharia not Personal Law: Farha Faiz

Mehreen Noor and Syeda Hina Fathima filed the case against their husbands who divorced them through WhatsApp while residing in the US. Justice A Ramalingeswara Rao also sent a notice to their husbands and in-laws, asking them to file counter affidavits in the matter.

Noor and Fathima said in their petition that talaq through WhatsApp is banned in the country by the Supreme Court and several high courts in the country. SC in the Shamim Ara vs State of UP and the High Courts of Allahabad, Bombay and Madras had passed the judgment that one-sided divorce without any counselling and logical reasoning is invalid and pertains to violation of the Constitution.

MAK Mukheed, counsel of the petitioners, advocated that the state has failed in defending the Muslim women and demanded that the court deem the divorce invalid. Both men who divorced their wives in this case are brothers, who are settled in the US. He also requested the court to issue a due course of method to the authorities concerned to lay down parameters to protect the rights of married Muslim women.

The counsel for the Wakf Board said that the Centre has requested recommendations from the law commission on Triple Talaq. The judge reached the conclusion that the order will be awaited until the matter is resolved with the law commission.

Picture credit- Deccan Chronicle