Delhi HC declines ruling on plea seeking no FIR for triple talaq

WHILE DECLINING to pass an interim order in an application seeking direction that no FIR be registered for pronouncement of triple talaq by a husband on his wife, the Delhi High Court has said that the provision of the 2019 law criminalising the act is aimed at discouraging “the age-old and traditional practice” of pronouncement of talaq.

While issuing notice to the Centre in the main case challenging the provision, the High Court has adjourned the matter sine die.
“The purpose of Section 4 appears to be to provide a deterrent against such practice. Merely because triple talaq has been declared to be void and illegal does not mean the legislature could not have made the continuation of such practice an offence. This is our prima facie view,” the division bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Rajnish Bhatnagar said in an order.

The court was hearing a case seeking directions that all FIRs registered under Section 4 of Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019, in police stations within the territory of Delhi—pending at the stage of investigation, inquiry or trial—be stayed.
The application also sought a direction to restrain the police from registering FIR during pendency of the case against Section 4 of the Act.

The provision provides for imprisonment of up to three for procurement of talaq “by words, either spoken or written or in electronic form or in any other manner whatsoever”.