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Centre will come out with a law if triple talaq is struck down: Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi tells Supreme Court

Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi statement was in response to the court asking him what a Muslim man can do to end the marriage if triple talaq is struck down

The government on Monday told the Supreme Court that if triple talaq is held invalid and unconstitutional by the court, it will come out with a law to regulate marriage and divorce among Muslims. “If the practice of triple talaq is struck down by the court, then Centre will bring a law to regulate marriage and divorce among the Muslim community,” Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi said. Rohatgi’s statement was in response to the court asking him what a Muslim man can do to end the marriage if triple talaq is struck down.

A five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice JS Khehar had said that the issues of the practice of polygamy and ‘nikah halala’ among Muslims will be discussed at a later date. “It may not be possible to deal with all the three issues in the limited time we have. We will keep them pending for future,” the bench said.

Claiming that polygamy and ‘nikah halala’ should also be heard, Rohatgi, who is appearing for the Centre, had said the issues were also part of the order of an earlier order on the practice of triple talaq among Muslims. “The scope of referring had all the three issues that was divorce, nikah halala, polygamy. All these three issues are before this court by virtue of the reference order of the two-judge bench,” Rohatgi said.

The Supreme Court is hearing pleas challenging triple talaq, polygamy and ‘nikah halala’. Earlier, the apex court had observed that triple talaq is the “worst” and “not a desirable” form of dissolution of marriage among the Muslims, even though there were schools of thought which called it “legal”.