Allahabad High Court Dismisses Plea to Quash Gangrape FIR in Nikah Halala Case
The Allahabad High Court has dismissed three petitions filed by a man and his co-accused seeking to quash an FIR lodged by his wife. The FIR alleges she was subjected to gangrape twice under the pretext of ‘nikah halala’, including once when she was a minor, to remarry the same man.
A division bench of Justices JJ Munir and Tarun Saxena observed that in criminal law, personal laws governing marriage cannot be used as a shield if a crime is committed. The court stated: “When it comes to criminal law, unless the law itself makes an exception, which it rarely does, there is absolutely no place for pleading personal laws governing marriage if, interlaced with a matrimonial relationship, a crime were committed.”
‘Nikah halala’ is a process under which a divorced Muslim woman must first marry another person, consummate the marriage, and obtain a divorce from the second husband before she can remarry her first husband. The court noted that the constitutionality of halala is not under challenge. However, if a minor girl is subjected to carnal relations under the garb of halala, it attracts provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
The bench remarked that the case presents a picture of a part of society far removed from constitutional values and aspirations of equality, privacy, and personal dignity enshrined in Articles 21 and 14 of the Constitution. The court added: “The entire facts that have so far come on record, are shocking to the conscience.”
According to the FIR and the victim’s statement, the complainant was 15 years old when she first married the main accused in April 2015. He pronounced triple talaq in January 2016. He later convinced her to marry him again, forcing her to undergo halala in November 2016 by having physical relations with a cleric against her consent. The victim, then 16, said she did not understand the practice. She married her husband a second time in April 2017 and gave birth to a daughter.
The husband allegedly beat her for not bearing a male child and pronounced triple talaq a second time in 2021, leading to a court decree of divorce. He later married another woman but contacted the victim for a reunion after finding out she could not bear a child. The husband’s brother and nephew allegedly forced the victim to undergo halala again, raping her in February 2025. A bogus nikah was then performed with the husband for a third time. The victim later discovered her name missing from her daughter’s school documents; when she questioned it, the husband told her she was not his wife.
The court observed that the first halala prima facie constitutes statutory rape and offences under the POCSO Act, and the second instance prima facie amounts to gangrape. Dismissing the petitions, the court ordered a thorough investigation.
