SC Seeks Centre’s Response On Polygamy & ‘Nikah Halala’

New Delhi: The Supreme Court, on Monday, sought responses from the Centre and the Law Commission to to examine the constitutional validity of polygamy and ‘Nikah halala.’

A bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra and comprising of Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud, said a fresh five-judge constitution bench would be set up to deal with the constitutionality of ‘Nikah halala’ and polygamy.

The previous five-judge constitution bench had held triple talaq unconstitutional by a majority 3:2.

A PIL claiming a ban of polygamy and ‘Nikah-Halala’ was filed by Delhi BJP leader on March 5, citing “that the provisions of the IPC are applicable on all Indian citizens and triple talaq is a cruelty under section 498A (husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty) of the IPC, ‘nikah-halala’ is rape under section 375 (rape) of the IPC, and polygamy is an offence under section 494 (marrying again during lifetime of husband or wife) of the IPC.”