SC constitution bench issues notice on polygamy, nikah halala pleas

After the practice of talaq-e-biddat (triple talaq) was held to be unconstitutional in 2017, several parties, including the Muslim Women’s Resistance Committee, filed petitions in the Supreme Court challenging other Islamic marriage practices -- namely, polygamy, nikah-halala, nikah mut’ah and nikah al-misyar. The matters remained pending since they were referred to the 5-judge bench in March 2018.

Speaking to India Today's Aneesha Mathur, petitioner Sameena Begum said that this is an issue of the dignity and rights of Muslim women who are being exploited in the name of religious observance. The CB is set to take up the legal issue of extent of reasonable restrictions on religious practices for "public order, morality, and health". Also, will consider the issue of the extent of judicial intervention into question of religion.