The case of Nikah halala in India

Subject : Polity

Context :SC has constituted a five judge bench headed by Justice Indira Banerjee to hear the case of ‘Nikah halala ‘ in India.

Concept :

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 and Polygamy.
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.
‘Nikah halala’ is a process in which a Muslim woman has to marry another person and get divorced from him before being allowed to marry her divorcee husband again.

Issues Involved

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 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 the consummation of marriage.
Usually, nikah halala stems from instant triple talaq and ends with it.
In India, the Muslim Women’s Protection of Rights on Marriage, passed after the 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.