NEW DELHI: Supreme Court on Wednesday questioned the validity of the practice among Muslim men to authorise a lawyer to send notices to his wife for divorce through three talaqs, each notified after a month’s gap, and said this would not be regarded as a valid annulment of marriage as the notices do not bear the man’s signature.Appearing for a TV journalist petitioner questioning the Muslim men’s unilateral right to divorce through triple talaq under Talaq-e-Hasan process, senior advocate Rizwan Ahmed told a bench of CJI-designate Surya Kant and Justices U Bhuyan and N K Singh that her advocate husband sent talaq notices through a lawyer, finalised divorce and remarried.“When a talaqnama does not bear the husband’s signature, it is not a valid divorce document. If, based on this document, the woman remarries, the man can later accuse her of polyandry by claiming he has not validly divorced the woman. Moreover, whenever she wants to remarry, the other man can decline citing the invalidity of the divorce document,” Ahmed said.When senior advocate M R Shamshad attempted to justify the advocate husband’s action terming it as a custom prevalent among Muslims, Justice Kant-led bench asked, “How can this be a valid practice? The notices for talaq and talaqnama must have the signature of the husband. How can a third party give the woman notice on behalf of her husband?”“Is this legal? How are such innovations made to give talaq? How is the community promoting such practices? We will not permit such processes to harm the dignity of the Muslim women. No one can give authorisation to a lawyer or any other person to give talaq notice to a woman on his behalf. If tomorrow the husband says he has not authorised the lawyer, what will happen to the woman? We have seen in many cases where the clients have disowned lawyers’ action,” the bench said.Deprecating the actions of the advocate-husband, the bench asked him to follow the Sharia law procedures and give a valid divorce to the woman, Benazeer Heena, who was present in court and narrated how she had been made to run from pillar to post after being virtually abandoned by her husband after paying a total alimony of Rs 17,000. SC asked her to file an application seeking appropriate directions for her and child’s welfare and education. “We will do the needful,” it assured.Turning to Shamshad, Justice Kant said, “We salute her for gathering courage to move the court challenging the unilateral Talaq-e-Hasan process of divorce. Think of the condition of millions of Muslim women, illiterate and living in rural areas. What would be their plight? The relief cannot be confined to those women who have the wherewithal to move the SC. We will decide the validity of Talaq-e-Hasan after a detailed hearing.”
