Benazeer Heena Gets Final Notice Of Talaq As Her Plea Challenging Talaq-e-Hasan Awaits Listing Before Supreme Court

Benazeer Heena, who has challenged the 'Talaq-e-Hasan' and other forms of "unilateral extra-judicial talaq" before the Supreme Court has received the third and final notice of Talaq under Talaq-e-Hasan.

Benazeer, a journalist, had approached the Supreme Court in the first week of May this year stating that her husband has given her the first notice of Talaq through a Lawyer's notice.

In her Petition, Benazeer has also sought a direction to the Centre to frame guidelines for neutral and uniform grounds of divorce and procedure for all citizens.

The Petition was mentioned by Senior Advocate Pinky Anand on May 25 stating that the Benazeer has already received her second notice of Talaq. "It is about a woman being abused", the Senior Counsel told the Court.

The Bench of Justice D.Y. Chandrachud and Justice Bela Trivedi said that there is no urgency in the matter. When the Senior Counsel insisted, the Bench said that the matter may be mentioned again the next week.

On May 30, the Benazeer was present in Court through video conference when the matter was mentioned again by Ms. Anand before the Bench headed by Justice Ajay Rastogi. The Bench declined the request and asked the Petitioner to make an application before the Registrar instead.

On June 16, the case was again mentioned by Advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay before the Bench of Justice AS Bopanna and Justice Vikram Nath, stating that Benazeer has received the second notice and that the Talaq will become final with the third notice. The Bench agreed to list the matter.

Benazeer received her final notice of Talaq vide a Lawyer's notice dated June 20, 2022. The notice makes many allegations against her including that she had revealed to her husband that her family members including her brothers are actively involved in promoting 'Love Jihad' by alluring Hindu girls into marriage for the purpose of converting them to Islam.

The notice says that a lump sum maintenance will be provided during the Iddat period "solely for the purpose of fulfilling his (husband's) religious obligations as per the Shariat Law though my client (husband) is under no legal obligation to do so".

Benazeer has released a video message stating that after receipt of the third notice by email, she received a total amount of ₹ 17,000 through UPI including ₹15,000 for her three-month Iddat period and ₹ 2,000 for her 9-month-old son.

Benazeer states in the video that the paltry sum sent to her is an insult to a mother and that she does not accept the unilateral, illegal divorce.

Benazeer's Petition filed through Advocate Ashwani Kumar Dubey also seeks to declare Section 2 of the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937 as void and unconstitutional, in so far as it validates the practice of "Talaq-E-Hasan and other forms of unilateral extra-judicial talaq". The plea also challenges e Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act, 1939 to the same extent.

As per the website of the Supreme Court, the next computer-generated date for Benazeer's Petition is July 11, 2022.