File photo of Chief Justice of India Justice J S Khehar. Image: Gettyimages
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday announced that the chief justice of India will head the five member bench in the triple talaq case.
CJI JS Khehar will be heading a Constitution bench comprising of Justices Kurian Joseph, RF Nariman, UU Lalit, and Abdul Nazeer. With one person each from Sikh, Christian, Parsi, Hindu and Muslim communities, the apex court has clearly made sure there are no questions raised on the basis of religion as it decides on the validity of the practice around 10:30 am on Thursday.
The announcement comes a week after senior lawyer and former Union minister Salman Khurshid was appointed as amicus curiae to assist the court on the case.
The case on triple talaq—the practice which gives a Muslim man the right to divorce his wife by saying ‘talaq’ thrice—has witnessed heated debates in public with Muslim leaders calling it an infringement on their religious laws and the ruling BJP, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the matter should not be seen through a political prism.
PM Modi had said he will “fight against the sufferings of the Muslim daughters in the country”, adding that his government will bring an end to this “archaic law.”
Experts had told News18 that though Muslims in India would respect the Supreme Court verdict on triple talaq, quashing it was not going to stop the community from adhering to the Muslim Personal Law.
“People are free to seek remedial measures from the court. Similarly, others are equally free to be guided by the Personal Law within their household and in their personal lives,” Jamiat Ulema-i-Hind (JUH) leader and senior Islamic theologian Maulana Arshad Madani had said.