Rs 2-lakh fine for instant talaq

Lucknow, June 12: A Turk Muslim panchayat in western Uttar Pradesh has imposed a Rs 2-lakh fine on a 40-year-old for pronouncing the instant triple talaq on his wife.

Attended by over 1,000 community members yesterday, the traditional council of elders also ordered the man to return to his divorced wife a sum equal to what her father had spent on their marriage three years ago.

The man, from Musapur in Sambhal district, about 410km west of Lucknow, was forced to pay the sum on the spot.

Eight weeks ago, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board had issued a code of conduct stressing staggered talaqs and reconciliation efforts, and urging a social boycott of those who pronounce the instant triple talaq.

The Supreme Court heard a batch of petitions challenging the constitutional propriety of the instant talaq last month and is expected to pronounce a verdict in July.

The Centre supported the petitioners in court on the grounds of women's rights but the law board, an influential body within the community, opposed any judicial or government interference in Muslim personal laws.

"Yesterday's panchayat was held near Sambhal city. Two elders, Mohammad Asrar Babu and Shahid Hussain, respectively presided over it and conducted it," said Liyaquat Hussain, former elected gram panchayat chief of Govindpur, near Sambhal.

He declined to name the divorced husband but said he had had to pay Rs 260,000 to the woman's father.

"A similar fine would be imposed on any man who dares pronounce the instant triple talaq on his wife. The fine may increase up to Rs 10 lakh depending on the man's economic status," Liyaquat said.

He added that those who try to "pull the development of the community back by following the mindless practice of the triple talaq will also be ostracised permanently".

On May 5, a larger traditional panchayat of Turk Muslims, a community that has over 8 lakh members in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, had "banned" the instant talaq.

The panchayat, held in Hajipur village in Sambhal, also ruled that an instant talaq would be invalid if a remorseful husband accepted he had uttered it in anger. "In that case, the woman would still be his wife," it had ruled.

It had warned that those who practice the instant talaq would be punished.

Shahid, who conducted yesterday's panchayat, endorsed the law board's code of conduct. "A man can utter the second and third talaqs after a gap of a month each, and must discuss his marital problems with the elders of both families before pronouncing the third talaq," he said.