Supreme Court did not specify that Shayara Bano judgment on Triple Talaq will apply prospectively: High Court of J&K and Ladakh

The High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh recently ruled that the Supreme Court's judgment in the Shayara Bano case would apply equally to cases of 'Triple Talaq' pronounced prior to the passing of the 2017 verdict (Showkat Hussain v. Naziya Jeelani).

While dismissing a plea in a case in which Triple Talaq was pronounced in year 2014, Justice Sanjeev Kumar held that the apex court did not specify that its judgment would apply prospectively.

"The Hon'ble Supreme Court, while declaring the 'triple talaq' as null and void in the eye of law in the case of Shayara Bano did not specifically make the judgment to operate prospectively and that being the position, the law declared by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Shayara Bano's case would apply equally to the 'triple talaq' pronounced prior to passing of the said judgment," the order stated.

The Court was dealing with a plea filed by a husband seeking to recall a judgment of the High Court passed in 2019, to the extent of relying upon and applying the judgment in Shayara Bano to the present case.

It was the petitioner's case that the judgment in Shayara Bano was pronounced in the year 2017, whereas in the instant case, triple talaq was pronounced in the year 2014. In this light, it was contended that the Constitution Bench judgment could not have been applied to declare the validity of 'triple talaq' pronounced in the year 2014.

While dismissing the petition, the Court held,

"The argument raised is not tenable for the reason that the judgment rendered in the case of Shayara Bano (supra), if not made to operate prospectively specifically is to be treated as retrospective and applicable even to the pending cases."

[Read order]