SC verdict on triple talaq a step forward for women’s rights in India

Responding to the Supreme Court’s verdict today declaring the practice of talaq-e-biddat unconstitutional, Asmita Basu, Programmes Director at Amnesty International India said: “We welcome the Supreme Court judgment. Triple talaq is a discriminatory practice that violates women’s right to equality, and has devastated the lives of many Muslim women.”

“The Supreme Court’s bar on this regressive practice is a step forward for women’s rights in India. We urge the government to repeal all religious family laws that violate women’s right to equality, without exception.”

The ruling was pronounced on a petition filed two years ago by Shayara Bano, a Muslim woman from Uttarakhand whose husband of 15 years sent her a letter with ‘talaq’ written three times on it and left her. Similar petitions filed by four other women were heard with Shayara Bano’s petition.