Days before the Centre is to file an affidavit in the Supreme Court on the triple talaq issue, a group of ministers led by Home Minister Rajnath Singh met on Wednesday to discuss the government’s stand on the contentious issue.
A senior government official told The Hindu that though a consensus could not be reached, all members were of the view that India should evolve towards a system of gender equality and do away with discrimination.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi were also present in the meeting to discuss the Muslim personal laws.
One of the Ministers is learnt to have said that Article 13 of the Constitution clearly stated that no law is valid if it violates the Constitution of India.
The ruling BJP has batted for implementation of uniform civil code (a set of common personal laws for all citizens) and has called for an open debate on the subject.
‘Gender discrimination’
“The personal laws of different communities may lead to gender discrimination and it infringes the provisions of equality before law, freedom of speech and protection of life and personal liberty as envisaged in the Constitution.
Many countries in the West have evolved towards gender equality and the endeavour in India should be to work towards it,” said the government official.
File affidavit, Centre told The Supreme Court is hearing several petitions on the triple talaq issue and had on September 5 directed the Centre to file an affidavit within four weeks.
The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), which has opposed any tinkering with the existing Muslim practices of polygamy, triple talaq and nikah halala, has told the Supreme Court that personal laws of a community cannot be “re-written” in the name of social reforms and opposed pleas on issues, including gender discrimination faced by Muslim women in divorce cases. Two months ago, the law ministry had referred the issue of Uniform Civil Code to the Law Commission and had asked it for a detailed study on its feasibility.
