The bombay high court, while dismissing the case filed by a Muslim woman against her husband and in-laws, has said that only 'talaq-e-biddat' (saying talaq-talaq three times instantly) has been prohibited, not the traditional way of giving divorce 'talaq-e-ahsan'. Under Talaq-e-Ahsan, divorce is said once, after which the woman has to go through Iddat or a waiting period of three months.
The aurangabad bench of the high court said on wednesday that the definition of divorce under the Muslim women (Protection of Rights Related to Marriage) Act includes those forms of divorce which have immediate effect or which are irreversible divorces. A division bench of Justices Vibha Kankanwadi and Sanjay Deshmukh dismissed the case filed in 2024 by a woman in Jalgaon against her husband and in-laws under Section 4 of the relevant Act.
3 years imprisonment for giving triple talaq
According to this section, any Muslim man who gives instant triple talaq to his wife can be punished with imprisonment up to three years. This process of divorce is called talaq-e-biddat. The high court said in its order, "Under the Act, what is described in the definition of divorce is instantaneous and irreversible. Talaq means talaq-e-biddat or any other form of divorce, which has an instantaneous or irreversible effect. All other forms of divorce are not prohibited or barred." The court said that in this case the man had given talaq-e-ahsan to his wife, which is a declaration of divorce. It said, "The final talaqnama was given three months after the declaration. The legal effect of talaq-e-ahsan came into effect only after 90 days during which the couple had not resumed cohabitation.''
The court said that triple talaq is prohibited under the provisions of the Act, not talaq-e-ahsan, in such a situation, if the person and his parents are asked to face trial, it would be an abuse of the process of law.
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