The Supreme Court on March 26 agreed to examine the constitutional validity of polygamy and ‘nikah halala’, the prevalent practices among Muslims.
The bench comprised Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud, said that a fresh five-judge constitution bench would be set up to deal with the validity of nikah halala and polygamy.
In its 2017 verdict, the previous five-judge constitution bench, headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra had kept open the issue of polygamy and nikah halala while quashing triple talaq.
The court also and sought responses from the Centre and the Law Commission.
The development comes after a fresh plea was filed by a Delhi-based woman in the top court seeking to declare as ‘illegal’ and ‘unconstitutional’ the practices of polygamy and nikah-halala among the Muslim community.
“This is in blatant contravention of Articles 14 (equality before law), 15 (prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth) and 21 (right to life and personal liberty) of the Constitution,” the petition filed through advocate Ashwani Kumar Dubey said.
“The practice of polygamy is neither harmonious with the modern principles of human rights and gender equality, nor an integral part of Islamic faith,” the plea said, adding that while Muslim women cannot engage in a polyandrous marriage, Muslim men claim to have a right to re-marry.
“Such discrimination and inequality hoarsely expressed in the form of polygamy is abominable when seen in light of the progressive times of the 21st century,” it said.
