Nikah Halala petitioner seeks protection from SC after acid attack

The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear on September 17 a plea filed by a petitioner in Nikah Halala and Triple Talaq case, seeking protection after facing acid attack on Thursday at Bulandshahr in Uttar Pradesh.

A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwikar and D Y Chandrachud considered the plea of Shabnam Rani, who was attacked allegedly by her brother-in-law and has been hospitalised. She has also sought better health care.

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The court asked advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, counsel for Rani, to submit a copy of the petition to the Centre and the Uttar Pradesh government.

Numerous petitions have been filed in the apex court challenging the prevalent practices of Nikah Halala and polygamy among Muslims saying it was violative of fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution.

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While polygamy allows a Muslim man to have four wives, ‘Nikah Halala’ deals with the process in which a Muslim woman, who wants to re-marry her husband after divorce, has to first marry another person and get a divorce from the second person after the consummation.

In her plea against Nikah Halala and polygamy, Rani had alleged that her husband divorced giving her Triple Talaq and forced to perform Nikah Hala with her brother-in-law.