No bar on granting anticipatory bail for offence under 2019 law on Triple Talaq: SC

The Supreme Court has said there is no bar on granting anticipatory bail under the law, making triple talaq a punishable offence, if the court hears complainant in the case.

Under the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act 2019, giving instant divorce through 'triple talaq' may entail maximum three-year jail term.

However, Section 7(c) of the law states a person accused of an offence can be released on bail after hearing the complainant woman and upon finding reasonable grounds for it.

A three-judge bench presided over by Justice D Y Chandrachud cited provisions of the Act and of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) relating to directions for the grant of bail to a person apprehending arrest.

"On a true and harmonious construction of Section 438 of the CrPC and section 7(c) of the Act, there is no bar on granting anticipatory bail for an offence committed under the Act, provided that the competent court must hear the married Muslim woman, who has made the complaint, before granting the anticipatory bail," the bench, also comprising Justices Indu Malhotra and Indira Banerjee, said.

"It would be at the discretion of the court to grant ad-interim relief to the accused during the pendency of the anticipatory bail application, having issued notice to the married Muslim woman," it added.

The court passed the verdict while granting anticipatory bail to a woman accused of harassing her daughter-in-law, who got an FIR lodged in August last year, alleging that her spouse had pronounced "Triple Talaq" on her at their house.

The bench was hearing an appeal filed against a Kerala High Court order, which had declined to grant anticipatory bail to the woman.

Referring to the provisions of the 2019 Act, the apex court said, "The prohibition in Sections 3 and 4 is evidently one which operates in relation to a Muslim husband alone. This is supported by the Statement of Objects and Reasons accompanying the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill 2019, when it was introduced in Parliament."

The court noted that under Section 3 of the Act, the pronouncement of "triple talaq" by a Muslim husband upon his wife has been rendered void and illegal while Section 4 deals with the punishment for the same.

"Thus, on a preliminary analysis, it is clear that the appellant, as the mother-in-law of the second respondent (complainant woman), cannot be accused of the offence of pronouncement of triple talaq under the Act as the offence can only be committed by a Muslim man," the bench said.