Triple talaq issue : Supreme Court allows Khurshid to assist as amicus curiae

Triple talaq issue : Supreme Court allows Khurshid to assist as amicus curiae

The Supreme Court today allowed former union minister Salman Khurshid to assist it in hearing a batch of pleas challenging the constitutional validity of 'triple talaq', 'nikah halala' and polygamy practices among the Muslims. A bench comprising Chief Justice J S Khehar and Justices D Y Chandrachud and S K Kaul allowed senior advocate Khurshid to act as an amicus curiae and file his written submissions in the case.

"We will take it on record. It's not an issue," the bench said when the Congress leader said that the time for filing written submission in the matter has already expired and he intended to file certain pleadings in the case. A five-judge constitution bench would commence hearing from May 11 to decide on the batch of petitions challenging the practices of 'triple talaq', 'nikah halala' and polygamy among Muslims.

The apex court had earlier said it would decide the issues pertaining to the legal aspects of 'triple talaq', 'nikah halala' and polygamy among Muslims but would not deal with the question whether divorce under Muslim law needs to be supervised by courts as it fell under the legislative domain. The Centre had on October 7 last year opposed in the apex court these practices and favoured a relook on grounds like gender equality and secularism.

The AIMPLB had told the court that pleas challenging such practices among Muslims were not maintainable as the issues fell outside the realm of judiciary. The apex court had on its own taken cognizance of the question whether Muslim women faced gender discrimination in the event of divorce or due to other marriages of their husband.