Jaitley said, "The institution of Triple Talaq will have to be judged on the yardstick of equality and the Right to Live with Dignity. Needless to say that the same yardstick would be applicable to all other personal laws." Stating that former governments failed to specify their stand on personal laws complying with fundamental rights, Jaitley stressed that the current government was clear on the controversial issue.
The court had asked the government to respond to a batch of petitions on the rights of Muslim women that challenged the practice of triple talaq. The government had on October 7 told the Supreme Court that the "validity of triple talaq and polygamy should be seen in light of gender justice". The government had said that there was no reason for women in India to be denied their constitutional rights, and that triple talaq, polygamy and nikaah halal "were not integral to the practices of Islam or essential religious practices." Several Muslim bodies, including the Jamaat-e-Islamic Hind criticised the government's stand as a violation of citizens’ right to freedom of religion.
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