A
Muslim divorcee has approached the Kerala High Court challenging the insistence
of the passport authorities for production of divorce decree to prove her claim
in her passport application that she is a divorcee.
The
petitioner, Nehmath Kunju Mohamed of Mattanchery has sought a declaration of
law that divorce by her husband by pronouncing 'talaq' should be accepted as
legally valid even without the necessity of a divorce decree.
The
petitioner contends that 'Talaq' is a permitted and recognized form of
dissolution of marriage in Islam and Muslims are entitled to dissolve their
marriages by 'talaq' or mutual consent without approaching any court or
obtaining any formal decree or order from a court of law. Therefore, the demand
of passport authorities to produce a formal divorce order is unwarranted,
illegal, improper, and arbitrary, says the petitioner.
It
is alleged by the petitioner that the stance of the passport authorities is
against the decision of the Kerala High Court reported in Shemi P Ali v. State of Kerala
[2009 (3) KLT 167]
In
Shemi P Ali v. State of Kerala
(supra), the High Court of Kerala had declared the legal position thus : "Authentication of divorce by competent
court is one of the methods of proving a divorce or even the existence of a
re-marriage. But it is not the only method. Divorce resultant upon a 'talak'
pronounced by her husband is a mode of divorce that is accepted in the Muslim
Community. An affirmation of the state of affairs by a sworn affidavit in the
form 'Annexure A' would suffice going by Clause 7 of Ext. R1(a) (Passport
Information Booklet)."
The
petition filed through Adv: Muhamed Shemeem is expected to come up for
admission before the High Court on Tuesday.
____________
Editor's note: The decision reported in Shemi P Ali v. State of Kerala
(supra) has been followed in some other decisions of the Kerala High Cout, including in K.A. Thansi v. Regional PassportOfficer and Sajila v. Regional Passport Officer
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