Rajasthan High Court stops man from marrying again as wife says talaq 'improper'

Jodhpur: The Rajasthan High Court stopped the second marriage of a man barely a few hours before it was to be solemnised on the plea of a woman that talaq given to her by the prospective groom was not in accordance with Sharia law.

The high court summoned the prospective groom Waseem Khan and issued notice to him seeking a reply.

According to Ranjana Sharma, counsel of the petitioner, Amreen Bano had married Waseem Khan in 2013 but their marriage later ran into rough weather on account of dowry demands.

"She was later evicted by her husband from him home and she had been living with her parents. On filing a case against the husband under domestic violence, a lower court had ordered the husband to pay an alimony of Rs 4,000 per month to Bano," said Sharma.

But on receiving the talaqnama from her husband and the information that Waseem was going to marry another woman on Friday evening, Bano approached the court stating that the talaqnama given by her husband was not in accordance with the Sharia law and hence not legal.

"Though, she had received the talaqnama in June 2015, but this talaqnama, which is supposed to have two witnesses, both Muslims, as per the law, had only one Muslim witness," the counsel argued, adding that this was in violation of the law and the talaq given thus was not valid.

Bano, in her petition, pleaded that Waseem was going to marry the same evening without properly exercising talaq, which was illegal and hence should be stayed.

Allowing the petition, Justice Vijay Bishnoi ordered the government counsel to produce Waseem in the court post lunch.

Arguing in the court, Waseem's counsel Iqbal Sherwani argued that the talaqnama was in sync with the Sharia law and had been approved by the Mufti.

After hearing the arguments, justice Bishnoi stayed the second marriage by Waseem and issued notice to him seeking his reply.