New Delhi, Jun 27 (IANS): The Delhi High Court has issued notice on a plea moved by a Muslim woman challenging the constitutional validity of Talaq-e-Hasan, under which a man can divorce his wife by pronouncing "talaq" once a month for three months.

As per the petitioner Raziya Naaz, the plea has been filed to declare the notice of Talaq-e-Hasan sent on June 2 to be void being in the form of unilateral extra judicial Talaq, and to be unconstitutional, arbitrary, irrational, contrary to Articles, 14, 15, 21 and 21 and provisions of United Nations Conventions of Human Civil Rights.

After considering the plea, judge Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma, in a recent order, sought the responses of the Delhi Police and the respondent-husband Shahenshah Alam Khan.

Accordingly, the matter was posted before the roster bench for August 18. Adv Rachita Garg, counsel appeared on behalf of the Delhi Police and accepted the notice.

A similar petition by a Muslim woman Heena Benazir, who claimed to be a victim of "Unilateral Extra-Judicial Talaq-E-Hasan" has been filed through advocate Ashwani Kumar Dubey, is also pending before the Supreme Court.

The plea argued that the practice of Talaq-E-Hasan and other forms of unilateral extra-judicial talaq is neither harmonious with the modern principles of human rights and gender equality, nor an integral part of the Islamic faith.

"Many Islamic nations have restricted such practice, while it continues to vex the Indian society in general and Muslim women like the petitioner in particular. It is submitted that the practice also wreaks havoc on lives of many women and their children, especially those belonging to the weaker economic sections of the society," it added.