As on yesterday the CJI mentioned that Triple Talaq Is Mentioned Nowhere In Quran. Here are few critical issues being debated.
Personal laws, however inequitable, are considered sacrosanct and cannot be challenged for being in conflict with the Constitution of India without touching a raw nerve. In the absence of steadfast judicial interpretation in various cases where personal laws were disputed, the high-profile triple talaq issue acquires much interest and will give rise to numerous speculations before the specially constituted bench pens its verdict.
The contention whether triple talaq is an inherent part of Islam or not will be central to the ruling. However, amidst all the searing exchange of legal prowess, one hopes the women of the Muslim community, scarred by indignity and hopelessness, have something to celebrate at the end of it all.
The Supreme Court as on today concluded its landmark hearing on triple talaq, reserving its order. A multi-faith, all-male, five-judge bench of the Supreme Court has been hearing blistering arguments in a six-day proceeding that started on 11 May to establish the constitutional validity of triple talaq.
On the final day of the proceedings today, Chief Justice of India (CJI) J S Khehar picked up the Quran and said unequivocally, that the practice is “mentioned nowhere in the book”, and queried how the Muslim community could claim it was fundamental to the religion when they themselves admitted it was ‘sinful’ and ‘worst form of divorce’.
Somebody gave this book to us… it says Talaq-e-biddat is a deviation from the right path. And now this is read and reread during every Friday afternoon prayers. So during every prayer, you say triple talaq is bad, sinful. CJI J S Khehar
Key Contentions
1. The Supreme Court said that the triple talaq is legal, but it is the worst and not desirable form for dissolution of marriages among Muslims. The court also queried how such a “sinful practice” can be taken as ordained by god and become a law.
2. “If the SC completely strikes down triple talaq, we will bring in a law. We will not leave the people high and dry,” said Attorney General Mukul Rohtagi.
3. Senior lawyer Salman Khurshid said that Islam considered instant triple talaq “sinful but valid in law”.
4. Sibal said challenging the constitutional validity of triple talaq, or instant oral divorce, could lead to a backlash in the Muslim community, which might see its rights as being infringed upon and therefore resort to supporting practices like polygamy and oral divorce.
“It is a 1,400 year old practice… who are we to say it is unislamic?”
5. Senior lawyer Indira Jaising said: “For deciding constitutionality, there is no difference between codified and uncodified law.”
6. The Centre, which wants oral, instant divorce declared unconstitutional, has said “triple talaq isn’t a basic and integral part of Islam.
Why is the SC hearing this matter?
The hearing is rooted in a 16 October 2015 order of the apex court by which it had directed the separate listing of a public interest litigation addressing the question of rights of Muslim women vis-a-vis these three customs. The hearing holds importance as the Allahabad High Court in its verdict pronounced in the last week of April, had held the practice of triple talaq as unilateral and bad in law.
In November last year, the Mumbai-based Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan (BMMA – Indian Muslim Women’s Movement) released a report chronicling nearly 100 cases of triple talaq.
The Supreme Court had on 30 March this year said that the Muslim practices of triple talaq, nikah halala and polygamy are issues that are “very important” and involve “sentiments” and a constitution bench would hear the petitions from 11 May.
The lead petition in the current case is titled “Quest for Equality vs. Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind”. Tagged with the case are six petitions by Khuran Sunnath Society, Shayara Bano, Aafreen Rehman, Gulshan Parveen, Ishrat Jahan and Atiya Sabri.
What are the issues before the SC bench?
Does personal law come under the ambit of Constitution of India? Four questions Supreme Court will address:
1. Whether the impugned practice of triple talaq is protected under Article 25(1) of the Constitution of India?
2. Whether Article 25(1) is subject to part III of the Constitution and in particular Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution of India?
3. Whether personal law is law under Article 13 of the Constitution?
4. Whether the impugned practices of talaq-e-biddat, Nikaah halala and polygamy are compatible with India’s obligations under International treaties and covenants to which India is a signatory?
5. Whether constitutional morality outweighs religious morality ?
Recent Posts
Petrol in India is cheaper than in countries like Hong Kong, Germany and the UK but costlier than in China, Brazil, Japan, the US, Russia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, a Bank of Baroda Economics Research report showed.
Rising fuel prices in India have led to considerable debate on which government, state or central, should be lowering their taxes to keep prices under control.
The rise in fuel prices is mainly due to the global price of crude oil (raw material for making petrol and diesel) going up. Further, a stronger dollar has added to the cost of crude oil.
Amongst comparable countries (per capita wise), prices in India are higher than those in Vietnam, Kenya, Ukraine, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Venezuela. Countries that are major oil producers have much lower prices.
In the report, the Philippines has a comparable petrol price but has a per capita income higher than India by over 50 per cent.
Countries which have a lower per capita income like Kenya, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, and Venezuela have much lower prices of petrol and hence are impacted less than India.
“Therefore there is still a strong case for the government to consider lowering the taxes on fuel to protect the interest of the people,” the report argued.
India is the world’s third-biggest oil consuming and importing nation. It imports 85 per cent of its oil needs and so prices retail fuel at import parity rates.
With the global surge in energy prices, the cost of producing petrol, diesel and other petroleum products also went up for oil companies in India.
They raised petrol and diesel prices by Rs 10 a litre in just over a fortnight beginning March 22 but hit a pause button soon after as the move faced criticism and the opposition parties asked the government to cut taxes instead.
India imports most of its oil from a group of countries called the ‘OPEC +’ (i.e, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Russia, etc), which produces 40% of the world’s crude oil.
As they have the power to dictate fuel supply and prices, their decision of limiting the global supply reduces supply in India, thus raising prices
The government charges about 167% tax (excise) on petrol and 129% on diesel as compared to US (20%), UK (62%), Italy and Germany (65%).
The abominable excise duty is 2/3rd of the cost, and the base price, dealer commission and freight form the rest.
Here is an approximate break-up (in Rs):
a)Base Price | 39 |
b)Freight | 0.34 |
c) Price Charged to Dealers = (a+b) | 39.34 |
d) Excise Duty | 40.17 |
e) Dealer Commission | 4.68 |
f) VAT | 25.35 |
g) Retail Selling Price | 109.54 |
Looked closely, much of the cost of petrol and diesel is due to higher tax rate by govt, specifically excise duty.
So the question is why government is not reducing the prices ?
India, being a developing country, it does require gigantic amount of funding for its infrastructure projects as well as welfare schemes.
However, we as a society is yet to be tax-compliant. Many people evade the direct tax and that’s the reason why govt’s hands are tied. Govt. needs the money to fund various programs and at the same time it is not generating enough revenue from direct taxes.
That’s the reason why, govt is bumping up its revenue through higher indirect taxes such as GST or excise duty as in the case of petrol and diesel.
Direct taxes are progressive as it taxes according to an individuals’ income however indirect tax such as excise duty or GST are regressive in the sense that the poorest of the poor and richest of the rich have to pay the same amount.
Does not matter, if you are an auto-driver or owner of a Mercedes, end of the day both pay the same price for petrol/diesel-that’s why it is regressive in nature.
But unlike direct tax where tax evasion is rampant, indirect tax can not be evaded due to their very nature and as long as huge no of Indians keep evading direct taxes, indirect tax such as excise duty will be difficult for the govt to reduce, because it may reduce the revenue and hamper may programs of the govt.
Globally, around 80% of wastewater flows back into the ecosystem without being treated or reused, according to the United Nations.
This can pose a significant environmental and health threat.
In the absence of cost-effective, sustainable, disruptive water management solutions, about 70% of sewage is discharged untreated into India’s water bodies.
A staggering 21% of diseases are caused by contaminated water in India, according to the World Bank, and one in five children die before their fifth birthday because of poor sanitation and hygiene conditions, according to Startup India.
As we confront these public health challenges emerging out of environmental concerns, expanding the scope of public health/environmental engineering science becomes pivotal.
For India to achieve its sustainable development goals of clean water and sanitation and to address the growing demands for water consumption and preservation of both surface water bodies and groundwater resources, it is essential to find and implement innovative ways of treating wastewater.
It is in this context why the specialised cadre of public health engineers, also known as sanitation engineers or environmental engineers, is best suited to provide the growing urban and rural water supply and to manage solid waste and wastewater.
Traditionally, engineering and public health have been understood as different fields.
Currently in India, civil engineering incorporates a course or two on environmental engineering for students to learn about wastewater management as a part of their pre-service and in-service training.
Most often, civil engineers do not have adequate skills to address public health problems. And public health professionals do not have adequate engineering skills.
India aims to supply 55 litres of water per person per day by 2024 under its Jal Jeevan Mission to install functional household tap connections.
The goal of reaching every rural household with functional tap water can be achieved in a sustainable and resilient manner only if the cadre of public health engineers is expanded and strengthened.
In India, public health engineering is executed by the Public Works Department or by health officials.
This differs from international trends. To manage a wastewater treatment plant in Europe, for example, a candidate must specialise in wastewater engineering.
Furthermore, public health engineering should be developed as an interdisciplinary field. Engineers can significantly contribute to public health in defining what is possible, identifying limitations, and shaping workable solutions with a problem-solving approach.
Similarly, public health professionals can contribute to engineering through well-researched understanding of health issues, measured risks and how course correction can be initiated.
Once both meet, a public health engineer can identify a health risk, work on developing concrete solutions such as new health and safety practices or specialised equipment, in order to correct the safety concern..
There is no doubt that the majority of diseases are water-related, transmitted through consumption of contaminated water, vectors breeding in stagnated water, or lack of adequate quantity of good quality water for proper personal hygiene.
Diseases cannot be contained unless we provide good quality and adequate quantity of water. Most of the world’s diseases can be prevented by considering this.
Training our young minds towards creating sustainable water management systems would be the first step.
Currently, institutions like the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IIT-M) are considering initiating public health engineering as a separate discipline.
To leverage this opportunity even further, India needs to scale up in the same direction.