Breaking: SC issues notice in challenge to Polygamy, Nikah Halala; Matter to be heard by Constitution Bench

Seven months after it struck down the practice of Triple Talaq, the Supreme Court today issued notice in a batch of petitions challenging the Islamic practices of Polygamy, Nikah Halala, Nikah Mutah and Nikah Misyar..The petitions, which assail the validity of Section 2 of the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937 insofar as it sanctions the above practices, were heard today by a Bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud..The Bench, after issuing notice to the Central government and the National Commission for Women, referred the matter to a Constitution Bench..The four petitioners are Sameena Begum, Nafisa Khan Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay and Moullim Mohsin Bin Hussain Bin Abdad Al Kathiri..Senior Advocates Mohan Parasaran, V Shekhar, Sajan Poovayya and advocate Gopal Sankaranarayan appeared for the petitioners..Appearing today, the lawyers referred to the judgment rendered by the Court in the Triple Talaq case, in which the Court had stated that the issues of Polygamy and Nikah Halala could be considered separately. The Court agreed to the same and issued notice..Nikah Halala is the practice as per which once a Muslim woman has been divorced, her husband is not permitted to take her back even if he pronounced Talaq under influence of an intoxicant, unless his wife marries another man, who subsequently divorces her so that her previous husband can re-marry her..Nikah Mutah literally means “pleasure marriage”, and is a verbal and temporary marriage contract that is practiced in Muslim Community, in which duration of marriage and the mahr (payment made at time of marriage) is specified and agreed upon in advance. It is a private contract made in a verbal format..Preconditions for Nikah Mutah are: The bride must not be married, she must be Muslim, she should be chaste, and not addicted to fornication. She may not be a virgin (if her father is absent and cannot give consent). At the end of the contract, marriage ends and women undergo iddah, a period of abstinence from marriage (intercourse). The iddah is intended to give paternal certainty to any child/girl if she becomes pregnant during the temporary marriage..Nikah Misyar, which translates to “traveller’s marriage” is a form of marital union wherein the husband and wife renounce several marital rights such as living together, the wife’s rights to housing and maintenance money, and the husband’s right to access..It is pertinent to state that a written declaration of intent to marry and acceptance of the terms are required in other forms of marriages in Islam. Generally, Nikah Mutah and Nikah Misyar have no prescribed minimum or maximum duration..Read the order and petitions below.