The Allahabad High Court has held that the sexual exploitation of women under the guise of practices such as nikah halala and triple talaq cannot be permitted, observing that crimes cannot be protected under the cover of personal laws.
A division bench of Justices JJ Munir and Tarun Saxena made the observations while dismissing petitions filed by a woman’s former husband, a cleric (maulana), relatives and other accused persons seeking to cancel an FIR lodged against them and pause their arrest. The case pertains to Uttar Pradesh’s Amroha district, where a woman had alleged repeated sexual exploitation under the guise of underage marriage, triple talaq, nikah halala and remarriage.
Under nikah halala, a divorced woman is required to marry and separate from another man before remarrying her former husband. Triple talaq, also known as talaq-e-biddat, is the practice where a Muslim man divorces his wife by pronouncing “talaq” three times in one sitting. The practice was declared illegal in India in 2019.
Rejecting the pleas of the accused, the High Court said the allegations disclosed facts of an extremely serious nature and prima facie appeared to be contrary to law. The bench observed that the practices allegedly employed in the case represented a “dark page” of society and were inconsistent with constitutional values, equality and human dignity.
“These acts are not only crimes under the guise of law but also shake the collective conscience of society,” the court observed, adding that personal laws cannot be used as a shield to protect criminal conduct.
The High Court was hearing petitions seeking to cancel an FIR accusing nine people of sexually exploiting a woman through the alleged misuse of nikah halala and related practices. The accused had also sought protection from arrest during the pendency of the case.
The court, however, found no grounds to interfere with the investigation at this stage. It said the material available on record prima facie suggested a case of premeditated gang rape of a minor and warranted a thorough probe.
ABOUT THE CASE
According to the FIR, the complainant was allegedly forced into marriage with Azhar Nawaz in April 2015 when she was around 15 years old. After Azhar allegedly pronounced triple talaq in January 2016, she was compelled to undergo nikah halala with Maulana Qayyum before remarrying Azhar in 2017. The High Court noted that she appeared to have been a minor at the time of the first halala, LawBeat reported.
The FIR further alleges that after another divorce in 2021, Azhar sought reconciliation. His brother, Shahnawaz Chaudhary, and relative, Hakim Nishat alias Nishat, allegedly told the woman that because she had been divorced twice, she would have to undergo nikah halala twice before remarrying him.
On the pretext of carrying out the ritual, Shahnawaz and Nishat allegedly raped the woman in February 2025 and threatened to kill her and her daughter if she resisted, the FIR states.
The complainant further alleged that Maulana Nadim, with the assistance of Aquil, Shahnawaz Chaudhary, Hakim Nishat and Azhar Nawaz, conducted a sham marriage to make her believe she had lawfully remarried Azhar, thereby inducing her to resume marital relations with him, LawBeat reported.
The petitioners, including Tayyab, Shahnawaz Chaudhary, Hakim Nishat, Asim and Murtza alias Kari Murtza, argued before the court that nikah halala is recognised under Muslim personal law and that triple talaq was legally valid in 2016. They also contended that the FIR was motivated by an ongoing dispute relating to custody of the couple’s daughter and property, and claimed that some of the accused had only peripheral roles in the alleged incidents, according to LawBeat.
The High Court had rejected the submissions, saying there was no basis at the preliminary stage of the investigation to cancel the FIR. It had clarified that the investigation would continue and that the allegations required a comprehensive examination by the investigating agency.
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Published By:
Prateek Chakraborty
Published On:
Jul 3, 2026 15:54 IST
