New Delhi | The Supreme Court on Wednesday referred to mediation a plea of a Muslim woman challenging the validity of Talaq-e-Hasan given by her husband.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi appointed former apex court judge Justice Kurian Joseph as the mediator on the plea filed by journalist Benazeer Heena.

Talaq-e-Hasan is a form of divorce among Muslims where man can dissolve a marriage by pronouncing the word 'talaq' once every month over a three-month period.

The apex court had earlier raised concerns over the practice of husbands’ lawyers sending talaq notices to wives, as this has later led to conflicts around the validity of the divorce and accusations of polyandry when the wives remarry.

During the hearing on Wednesday, advocate Syed Rizwan Ahmed, appearing for Heena, submitted that immunity of personal law cannot go unchecked and thus such practices cannot be found in the Holy Quran.

Senior advocate M R Shamshad, appearing for Heena's husband, stated the three talaqs were delivered on the verified address as mentioned in the wife’s affidavit.

“If the wife is evading Talaq, you can approach us for deemed service on her. Even a newspaper ad can be put for it. That would also be notice,” said the CJI.

“Question is of a person, not religion. Mutual respect is to be maintained by both sides when they seek to part amicably,” said the court.

Ahmed said Heena wanted to reconcile and is willing to initiate mediation in the matter.

The court noted there is “an urgent and dire necessity” to refer both parties to mediation to find an amicable solution to the matrimonial dispute for its valid dissolution or for the parties to find any other alternative.

The court referred both parties to the mediation centre and appointed Justice Joseph as the sole mediator, owing to his vast experience in resolving complex matrimonial disputes.

The counsels for both parties were directed to contact Justice Joseph by Thursday and fix a date for mediation. The court ordered Justice Joseph to make an endeavour to resolve the dispute within four weeks.

“We further direct that in view of mediation having been initiated, the earlier talaqs alleged to have been given by the respondent shall remain in abeyance,” the court said.

In a similar matter, the bench stayed the operation of a Talaq-e-Hasan divorce given by a Muslim husband to his illiterate wife.

"We direct that parties shall be deemed to be a validly married couple unless husband comes forward and shows that valid talaq has been given. Concerned SHO to find out whereabouts of husband and ensure his presence before this court," the bench said.

The apex court noted that there were allegations of the husband obtaining his wife's signatures on a blank paper and he did not appear to defend them.

The top court had earlier sought the views of National Commission for Women , National Human Rights Commission and National Commission for Protection of Child Rights on the issues.

Under Talaq-e-Hasan, a divorce gets formalised after the third utterance of the word talaq in the third month if cohabitation has not resumed during this period.

However, if cohabitation resumes after the first or second utterance of talaq, the parties are assumed to have reconciled.

In 2017, the top court declared Triple Talaq, also a form of divorce prevalent among Muslim community, as unconstitutional after finding it to be arbitrary and violative of fundamental rights of Muslim women.