The Kerala High Court has observed that a Magistrate Court has the power to decide on the validity of talaq pronounced by the husband, while hearing a petition by the wife seeking residential and monetary protection under the Domestic Violence (DV) Act 2005.
The court made the observation recently while allowing a petition against an order of the Kollam Additional Sessions Court reversing a Magistrate Court's order for protection to a Muslim woman against domestic violence. The Sessions Court had held that that prima facie there was material to show that the husband had pronounced talaq and as such the status of the petitioner was that of a divorced woman and she was not entitled to claim maintenance.
The High Court observed that, if the husband disputes the marital status during the hearing of a petition filed by the wife under the DV Act saying that he had divorced the wife by pronouncing talaq, the magistrate had every power to decide whether the said plea was valid or not. The finding of the Sessions Court that the magistrate had no power to decide on the validity of the talaq was wrong.
