Muslim women khula: The Telangana High Court has said in a historic judgment that Muslim women have full and unconditional right to end the marriage through open. Also, husband’s approval is not necessary for this. Under the open Islamic law, there is a way of divorce in which a woman herself takes the initiative of marriage, usually except her rights of her mehar.
In this judgment given on Tuesday, a bench of Justice Moushumi Bhattacharya and Justice BR Madhusudan Rao said that there is a medium of open fault or quarrel, in which the wife’s initiative is decisive and as soon as the wife demands open, it comes under immediate effect on the private level.
The court said, “The right to ask for an open demand for the wife is neither required for any reason nor the acceptance of the husband. The role of the court is only to give it legal recognition.”
Case details
The case was related to the appeal filed by a Muslim man, in which he demanded the cancellation of a Khullanama issued in 2020. This Khulnama was released by ‘Sadaay Haq Sharai Council’, which is a non-government body of Islamic scholars, freebies and Imams and resolves marital disputes according to Islamic private law.
The husband refused to obey the open, after which the wife contacted the council and completed the divorce process. The husband’s petition was rejected by the family court, which was challenged in the High Court.
Main points of court
Mufti’s approval is not necessary to certify open. The court clearly stated that it is not mandatory to get a divorce certificate from a Mufti or Darul-Qaza. The court said that the fatwa given by the Mufti is just consultation, not legally binding. If the matter comes to the court, the family court will only see whether the demand for open is valid or not, and this process should be brief. The court said that just as a Muslim man has the right to unilateral divorce, so the woman also has equal right to open. The court, citing the decisions of the Quran and Supreme Court (Shaira Bano 2017 and Shamim Ara 2002), said that there is no religious or legal mandatory for the husband’s consent.