New Delhi, Feb 16 (Reporter) A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court on Friday by Muslim men seeking to strike down certain provisions in the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019 by which the husband conducting triple talaq can be sent behind bars, saying that these were "anti-men and violative of their rights. A bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) D Y Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala, and Justice Manoj Misra, tagged the matter with other pending PILs on the same question of law and asked the lawyer to appear before the hearing on that day (tagged matters hearing). The Supreme Court tagged the fresh petition challenging the criminalisation of Triple Talaq along with the petitions already pending before the Court on the same issue. The lawyer appearing for the petitioner contended that the provisions for punishment of a Muslim husband conducting triple talaq were "anti-men and violative of their rights so it needs to be stuck down." The CJI asked the advocate, 'How the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019 was violative of the rights of men, How does it violate the rights of men?”, he asked. The Advocate replied that “it criminalizes the triple divorce, Section 3 and 4 of the Act are contrary to each other.” Section 3 of the 2019 Act- “Talaq is to be void and illegal.—Any pronouncement of talaq by a Muslim husband upon his wife, by words, either spoken or written or in electronic form or any other manner whatsoever, shall be void and illegal.” Whereas, the Punishment for pronouncing Talaq under section 4 prescribes imprisonment to the divorcing husband for a period up to 3 years along with a fine. The advocate said that Section 4 of the said Act states the punishment for pronouncing talaq.—Any Muslim husband who pronounces talaq referred to in Section 3 upon his wife shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years, and shall also be liable to fine.” Several Petitions were filed before the court in August 2019 challenging the constitutional validity of the 2019 Act. The Supreme Court issued notice to the Union on a batch of petitions Earlier the Petitions were filed by Samastha Kerala Jamiathul Ulama, Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, Muslim Advocates Association( Andhra Pradesh), etc. The petitioners have submitted that the Act has introduced penal legislation, specific to a class of persons based on religious identity. It is causative of grave public mischief, which, if unchecked, may lead to polarization and disharmony in society. As per the petitioners, there were no grounds, no circumstance for the enactment of the said Act as such form of divorce had already been declared unconstitutional by the Apex Court. Thereby, such a pronouncement was non-est in law and a marriage would subsist even after the said pronouncement. Further, it stated that marriage as per Islamic Law was a civil contract and 'talaq' was a mode to repudiate the contract. Therefore, the imposition of criminal liability for a civil wrong was in clear violation of the Fundamental Rights of Muslim men. The petitioners contended that Desertion, which plagues all the communities, has not been criminalized and thus the Act is discriminatory against Muslim husbands and is, in the absence of an intelligible differentia, violative of Article 14 of the Constitution. It was contended that the Supreme Court had already declared the practice of Triple Talaq as unconstitutional in Shayara Bano v. Union of India & Ors., (2017) 9 SCC 1, and thus, the utterance of the words, whether by a Muslim or person of any other community, is equally irrelevant. However, the Act entails penal provisions only against the utterance of Triple Talaq by a Muslim husband and it is discriminatory, so far as it is specific to a class of persons based on religious identity. It was further submitted that the Act has also turned a blind eye towards the plight of under trials and the overburdened judiciary by enacting a superfluous Act that needs to be stuck down...////...