MP High Court Refuses Judicial Recognition of Triple Talaq After Shayara Bano Verdict

In a significant ruling reaffirming the constitutional invalidity of instant triple talaq, the Madhya Pradesh High Court held that courts cannot grant declarations validating a practice already declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in Shayara Bano v. Union of India.

The judgment was delivered by Justice Vivek Jain while allowing petitions filed by Rubina Kavi against her husband Rizwan Ali, who had sought a declaration that he had divorced his wife through oral triple talaq in January 2015.

The husband initially pleaded that he had pronounced triple talaq in one sitting before two witnesses and later executed a talaqnama. However, after the Supreme Court invalidated instant triple talaq in 2017, he amended his pleadings in 2023, claiming the talaq had actually been pronounced on three separate occasions between 2013 and 2014.

Rejecting this argument, the High Court observed that the amendment was merely “an attempt to wriggle out” of the Supreme Court’s ruling. The Court noted that the original plaint and talaqnama clearly referred only to a single pronouncement of triple talaq on January 14, 2015.

The Court further clarified that constitutional court interpretations are ordinarily retrospective unless expressly stated otherwise. Holding the suit to be “vexatious and frivolous,” the Court rejected the plaint under Order 7 Rule 11 CPC while granting liberty to seek divorce through other legally permissible methods under Muslim law.