The Supreme Court has agreed to consider a petition challenging the Kerala High Court's decision that gave full rights to Muslim women to seek 'khula' divorce. 'Khula' is a form of divorce under Muslim personal law, through which a woman can separate from her husband. A bench of Justice AS Bopanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar issued notice to the Kerala High Court while hearing a petition filed by Kerala Muslim Jamaat and an individual.

In this case, the separation of a Muslim woman from her husband under the 'Khula' process was challenged in the Kerala High Court under the Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act. The Kerala High Court had held that the right to dissolve the marriage is an absolute right of the Muslim wife, given to her by the Quran, and is not subject to the consent or will of her husband. The High Court had also said that all types of divorce mentioned in Section 2 of the Shariat Act, except 'Faskh', are also available to Muslim women.

This decision was challenged by the husband and a review petition was filed in the Kerala High Court, which was rejected. Dismissing the review petition, the Kerala High Court said that the wish of the wife cannot be related to the wish of the husband, who cannot agree to the divorce. The court said that the right to use 'khula' has been given to a Muslim woman by the Quran. And if this right is subject to the will of the husband, it will become ineffective. 

What is 'khula' in Islam?

The Kerala High Court in its judgment had said, 'In the absence of any mechanism in the country to recognize the wife's wish for termination of marriage, in the event of the husband refusing to consent to the Khula, the court can simply hold that Khula can be implemented even without the husband's consent. In Islam, if a man wants to separate from his wife, he divorces her. At the same time, if a woman wants to separate from her husband, she has been given the right to do so.

Khula is also a form of divorce, but only the wife has the right to use it. Let us tell you that 'Khula' came into discussion when Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik, the husband of Indian tennis star Sania Mirza, got married for the second time. After Shoaib Malik's marriage with Pakistani actress Sana Javed, questions started arising that when did the divorce take place between Sania and him? On this, Sania Mirza's father had told that Sania had taken a divorce from Shoaib under 'Khula'.