A Muslim husband may dissolve marriage without proving grounds, but triple talaq is invalid.

The appellant-husband and respondent-wife were married according to Muslim rites on 7 April 1999.

The husband alleged that the wife treated him cruelly and deserted him by permanently leaving the matrimonial home on 14 October 2008; she allegedly refused repeated requests to return and sought dissolution of the marriage.

The husband thereafter pronounced talaq successively and instituted M.M. Case No. 53 of 2021 seeking a decree of divorce.

The wife, despite service of summons, did not appear, and the matter proceeded ex parte.

Evidence indicated that both parties had subsequently contracted second marriages.

The Principal Judge, Family Court, Madhubani dismissed the case, relying on Shayara Bano v. Union of India, which declared talaq-i-biddat or triple talaq unconstitutional.

The husband preferred the present appeal; the wife again did not appear despite service of notice.

Whether the appellant’s successive pronouncements of talaq constituted a legally valid and irrevocable dissolution of the Muslim marriage?

Whether the husband could obtain a decree of divorce on the grounds of cruelty and desertion notwithstanding the alleged pronouncement of talaq?

The Court applied the principles relating to dissolution of a Muslim marriage stated in Chapter XVI of Mulla’s Principles of Mahomedan Law (19th ed., reprint 2021), under which a Muslim marriage may be dissolved by the husband at his will without court intervention, by mutual consent, or by judicial decree.

It further recognised that, under Muslim law, no specific ground is ordinarily necessary for a husband to effect talaq, which may be pronounced orally or recorded in a talaqnama.

Talaq was classified as talak ahsan, talak hasan, and talak-ul-biddat or triple talaq.

Relying on Shayara Bano v. Union of India, (2017) 9 SCC 2, the Court held that talaq-i-biddat is unconstitutional.

Ahsan talaq becomes irrevocable upon expiry of the iddat period, while hasan talaq becomes irrevocable upon the third pronouncement in accordance with its requirements.

The Court also referred to Section 2 of the Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act, 1939, which sets out the grounds on which a Muslim woman may seek dissolution by judicial decree.

The Court found that the appellant’s case was based on successive pronouncements of talaq and did not assert that the divorce had been effected by the ahsan or hasan form.

Since talaq-i-biddat had been declared unconstitutional in Shayara Bano, the successive pronouncements could not operate as an irrevocable dissolution of the marriage.

Although the appellant argued that the wife’s alleged desertion since 2008 and cruelty entitled him to a decree of divorce, the Court held that the argument was misconceived because, under the principles of Muslim law relied upon by the Court, a Muslim husband ordinarily requires no specific ground to effect talaq and cannot seek a judicial divorce decree on cruelty or desertion in the manner asserted.

Accordingly, the Family Court’s dismissal was not legally erroneous.

It further held that the appellant’s claim for a decree of divorce on cruelty and desertion was misconceived.

The appeal was dismissed, and the judgment and decree of dismissal passed by the Principal Judge, Family Court, Madhubani in M.M. Case No. 53 of 2021 were affirmed.