Exploitation under the guise of Nikah, Halala and Triple Talaq, crime under the guise of personal law is not acceptable: High Court

Prayagraj. Allahabad High Court has refused to cancel the FIR against 09 people in the alleged Nikah Halala case. The Court said that when the allegations reveal a cognizable offence, the criminal law cannot be subordinated to the personal law. Actually, a woman was sexually exploited in the name of Nikah Halala.

The High Court, while hearing a case related to Nikah, Halala and Triple Talaq of Amroha, has taken a tough stance in its order and made it clear that the criminal law of the country cannot be subordinate to any personal law or religious practice. The court clearly said that if serious criminal allegations come to light in a case, the FIR cannot be canceled merely by citing personal law.

The division bench of Justice JJ Munir and Justice Tarun Saxena made this comment in the case of sexual exploitation and gang rape of a woman in the name of alleged ‘Nikah Halala’.

High Court did not give relief to 09 accused

The Court said that considering all the circumstances, this case presents a picture of a section of our society which is far away from the constitutional values ​​and principles of equality, privacy, individual dignity and the objectives of Articles 21 and 14 of the Constitution. The court has rejected the petitions challenging the FIR registered against all the nine accused involved in this case.

This case pertains to Saidangali police station of Amroha district of Uttar Pradesh. The victim was forcibly married to Azhar Nawaz on April 25, 2015, when she was only 15 years old. In January 2016, her husband gave her ‘triple talaq’. After this, in November 2016, on the pretext of remarrying, the victim was forced to undergo the process of ‘Nikah Halala’ on the pretext of Maulana’s advice. Maulana Qayyum forcibly had physical relations with her, after which she remarried Azhar in 2017.

In this case, FIR was registered in Saidangali police station under sections 85, 115(2), 64, 351(2), 61(2)(a), 70(2) of BNS, section 3/4 of Muslim Women (Protection of Marriage Rights) Act, 2019 and sections 5(l)/6 and 17/18 of POCSO Act. In the year 2021, Azhar gave her triple talaq for the second time and married another woman. Later, when he did not have any children from his second wife, he lured the victim into living with him for the third time by citing his daughter.