Overview
- Acting on journalist Benazeer Heena’s PIL, the court appointed Justice (Retd) Kurian Joseph as sole mediator and directed counsels to contact him immediately, targeting a resolution within four weeks.
- In Heena’s case, the bench ordered that earlier talaqs alleged by the husband will remain in abeyance while mediation proceeds.
- In a separate petition, the court stayed a talaq-e-hasan pronounced against an illiterate homemaker, deemed the couple married unless the husband proves a valid divorce, and asked the concerned SHO to trace him.
- The bench declined a blanket interim ban on pronouncements via WhatsApp, email or other electronic modes, citing the need for a full hearing on sensitive questions involving faith and fundamental rights.
- Judges noted they are not invalidating talaq-e-hasan at this stage, sought inputs from NCW, NHRC and NCPCR earlier, and signalled that a reference to a Constitution Bench remains possible.