New Delhi: The Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court, while hearing petitions challenging polygamy of men and Nikah Halala, Mutah, and Misyar prevalent in Muslim society, also decided to make National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), National Commission for Women (NCW), Minorities Commission a party. The matter will be heard after Dussehra.
The All India Muslim Personal Law Board has supported nikah halala and polygamy by filing a petition in the Supreme Court. The board has opposed the application filed against nikah halala and polygamy. The board has said in its petition that it has become clear in the 1997 judgment that personal law cannot be judged on the basis of fundamental rights.
The Supreme Court issued a notice to the government on this issue on March 26, 2018. The Court had referred the Constitution Bench to hear and had directed Attorney General KK Venugopal and the Law Commission to cooperate in the matter.
After BJP leader and lawyer Ashwini Upadhyay and Saira Bano, South Delhi woman Samina Begum has filed a petition in the Supreme Court against polygamy and nikah-halala. In her petition, the woman has sought to declare polygamy and nikah-halala as an offence under the Indian Penal Code and section 2 of the Muslim Personal Law as unconstitutional.
Samina Begum has said in the petition that she was married to Javed Anwar in 1999 and has two sons with him. Javed tortured her a lot, when she filed a complaint under Section 498A of the IPC, Javed sent her a letter of divorce. After that, she married a man named Riyazuddin in 2012 who was already married to a woman named Arifa.
