ORDER

This Crl.M.C. has been filed to quash all further proceedings in Annexure-B final report in Crime No.8/2022 of Kunnathunadu Police Station.

2. The petitioner is the accused. The 2nd respondent is the de facto complainant. The 3rd respondent is the wife of the petitioner.

3. The offences alleged against the petitioner are punishable under Sections 3 and 4 of the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019 (for short, 'the Act').

4. Admittedly, the petitioner married the 3rd respondent on 6.9.2015 as per Muslim rites. The petitioner divorced the 3rd respondent by pronouncing talaq. After the pronouncement of talaq, the 3rd respondent preferred a complaint to the Station House Officer, Kunnathunadu Police Station alleging that the talaq pronounced by the petitioner is triple talaq prohibited by the Act, 2019. On the basis of the said complaint, the Kunnathunadu police registered a crime against the petitioner for the offences punishable under Sections 3 and 4 of the Act, 2019. Annexure A is the FIR. Thereafter, the investigation was conducted and a final report was filed against the petitioner before the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court, Kolenchery. Annexure B is the final report. The petitioner has approached this Court to quash Annexure A FIR as well as Annexure B final report invoking Section 482 of the Cr.P.C on the ground that talaq pronounced by him is not talaq-e-bidat having the effect of instantaneous and irrevocable divorce, but talaq-e-sunnat recognized under the Muslim Personal Law and as such Sections 3 and 4 of the Act, 2019 are not attracted.

5. I have heard Smt.Leema Rosy, the learned counsel for the petitioner, Sri.M.A.Ahammad Saheer, the learned counsel for the 2nd and 3rd respondents and Sri.G.Sudheer, learned Public Prosecutor.

6. The Muslim Personal Law administered in India recognises out-of-court divorce at the instance of both wife and husband. Extra-judicial divorce at the instance of the husband in Muslim Personal Law is called talaq. The Muslim Personal Law prescribes a simple procedure for talaq keeping all chances of reconciliation and reconsideration open. A talaq strictly following this procedure is talaq-e-sunnat – a proper talaq. A talaq in violation of the prescribed procedure is called talaq-e-bidat - an improper talaq. Talaq-e-sunnat is further classified into two based on degrees of virtue in respect of man's conduct – talaq-e-ahsan and talaq-e-hasan. In talaq-e- ahsan, the husband repudiates his wife by a single pronouncement in a period of tuhr during which he has not had intercourse with her and then leaves her to the observances of iddat. The divorce remains revocable during the period of iddat. If there is no resumption of cohabitation or intimacy during the period of iddat, then the divorce becomes final and irrevocable, after the expiry of iddat period. Talaq-e- hasan consists of three pronouncements made during three tuhrs with no intercourse taking place during any of these intervals. After the first talaq, if there is resumption of cohabitation within a period of one month, the pronouncement of divorce is treated as revoked. After the second pronouncement of talaq, if there is resumption of cohabitation within a period of one month, the pronouncement of divorce is treated as revoked. If the parties are unable to unite during the period of iddat, the final irrevocable talaq can be pronounced, but only after the period of iddat. When the final talaq is pronounced, it becomes irrevocable and the marriage comes to an end.

7. The distinction between talaq-e-ahsan and talaq-e-

hasan is that, in the former, there is a single pronouncement of talaq followed by abstinence during the period of iddat; whereas, in the latter, there are three pronouncements of talaq, interspersed with abstinence. In both these forms, there is a chance for the party to be reconciled by the intervention of friends or otherwise. Both these forms are therefore approved forms and are recognized by