5 judges of 5 faiths on Supreme Court's triple talaq bench

5 judges of 5 faiths(धर्मों) on Supreme Court's triple talaq bench

NEW DELHI: A unique combination of five Supreme Court judges belonging to different faiths will start hearing final arguments on the constitutional validity of triple talaq+ from Thursday, the first day of the SC's summer vacation. For a sensitive issue like this, the lead petition is aptly titled "Quest for Equality vs Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind". And hearing the case will be five judges from five different communities — CJI J S Khehar (Sikh) and Justices Kurian Joseph (Christian), R F Nariman (Parsi), U U Lalit (Hindu) and Abdul Nazeer (Muslim).

However, it needs to be mentioned here that a judge decides a case only on the consideration(विचार) of merit and nothing else as s/he takes oath that "I will bear true faith and solemnly affirm faith and allegiance (निष्ठा) to the Constitution of India as by law established, that I will uphold the sovereignty and integrity(संप्रभुता और अखंडता) of India, that I will duly and faithfully and to the best of my ability, knowledge and judgment perform the duties of my office without fear or favour, affection or ill will and that I will uphold the Constitution and the laws."

Tagged with the case are six petitions by Khuran Sunnath Society, Shayara Bano, Aafreen Rehman, Gulshan Parveen, Ishrat Jahan and Atiya Sabri.

The case relates to a batch of petitions filed in the top court - including by the Centre - regarding whether divorce by saying 'talaq' three times is legal+ or whether it impinges on equal rights or in this case, women's rights, and whether freedom to practice religion - via the Muslim Personal Law for Islam - takes precedence over basic freedoms, among other things.