The Madras High Court ruled that only state-constituted courts, not private bodies like the Shariat Council, can issue marriage dissolution certificates. Dismissing a husband’s petition, the Court emphasized that if talaq is disputed, the husband must obtain a judicial declaration for it to be valid. Without this, the marriage remains legally recognized, protecting the wife’s rights.
Chennai: The Madras High Court ruled that only courts established by the State have the authority to issue a dissolution of marriage certificate, not private entities like the Shariat Council. This decision came as the Court dismissed a petition filed by a husband who challenged a trial court’s decision awarding his wife Rs. 5 lakh compensation under various sections of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005.
Justice G.R. Swaminathan stated,
“The certificate issued by the Chief Kazi of the Shariat Council of Tamil Nadu Thowheed Jamath concludes that Shariat judgment is accordingly delivered. Only courts duly constituted by the State can deliver judgments. Shariat Council is a private body and not a court.”
In the case, the husband claimed to have pronounced talaq and remarried, but the wife argued that she had not received a third talaq notice, thus the marriage was not dissolved. The Court acknowledged that in Islam, while a wife cannot prevent her husband from a second marriage, she retains the right to seek maintenance and opt-out of the matrimonial home.
The Court relied on the Supreme Court’s ruling in Shamim Ara v. State of Uttar Pradesh (2002), which emphasized that a mere assertion of divorce by a husband does not validate talaq. Instead, the burden rests on the husband to prove in court that a valid pronouncement of talaq was made.
“The issue cannot be left to the unilateral determination of the husband. That would amount to the husband becoming a judge of his own cause,”
Justice Swaminathan clarified, stressing the need for a judicial declaration to confirm a dissolved marriage.
In conclusion, the Court emphasized that the husband must obtain a court declaration to prove a marriage is dissolved, or it is considered to subsist.
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