HC considers apostasy a valid ground for dissolution of marriage

Marital relations in Indian society have always been a matter of serious speculations for the intellectuals, law makers and the judiciary itself. This is probably the only legal domain where decisions are given not as the readymade ones but are given in the light of the issues depending upon case to case.

In a far-reaching 2014 judgment of the Delhi High Court on the status of marriage following renunciation of religious beliefs by a spouse, the Court shifted the focus onto the marital ties of couples who resort to different tactics, including conversion, to enter wedlock. Many of these marriages end up in separation for a variety of reasons.

The judgment has recognised apostasy from Islam by the wife as a valid ground for ipso facto dissolution of marriage under the Muslim personal law while highlighting the significance of religious values and faith that continue to affect marital relations in Indian society.

Rejecting an appeal of Munavvar-ul-Islam against a decree of a family court in Saket, a Division Bench of the High Court, has stated that the dissolution of his marriage with Rishu Arora, who previously converted to Islam but later reconverted to her original religion, was valid under the Dissolution of Muslim Marriage Act, 1939.

“It is an admitted fact that the respondent (Rishu) was initially professing Hinduism and had embraced Islam prior to the marriage, and then reconverted to Hinduism…The trial court was right in specifying that the marriage stands dissolved from the date on which the respondent apostatised from Islam,” stated the Bench, comprising Justice S. Ravindra Bhat and Justice Najmi Waziri, in its verdict in Munavvar-ul-Islam v. Rishu Arora (Delhi High Court, 2014).

Munavvar and Rishu got married according to Islamic rites on July 15, 2010. Rishu embraced Islam and changed her name to Rukhsar before entering wedlock.

Differences arose between them after some time and they began living separately. Rishu initially filed cases under the maintenance and domestic violence laws, but later withdrew them, stating that since she had apostatised, her marriage no longer subsisted. The family court granted a decree of divorce in the case. In his appeal, Munavvar argued that renunciation of Islam does not by itself bring about the dissolution of a marriage governed by Muslim personal law. The High Court referred to several scholars of Muslim personal law while addressing the questions of whether apostasy automatically dissolves the marriage and whether the Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act, 1939 had made any change to the general law.

Justice Waziri, writing the judgment for the Bench, held that the case was covered by the proviso to Section 4 of the Act, according to which the requirement of obtaining a decree for dissolution of marriage does not apply to a woman who converted to Islam from some other faith and who later re-embraces her former faith. The Bench found that Rishu’s case was governed by the earlier Muslim personal law, under which the marriage dissolves ipso facto upon apostasy. The Court did not find any merit in the appeal and dismissed it.

Ref. https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Delhi/apostasy-valid-ground-for-dissolution-of-marriage-hc/article5997889.ece?homepage=true

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