Bill to criminalise triple talaq passed in Lok Sabha 

Bill to criminalise triple talaq passed in Lok Sabha 

 Context

Amidst protests from a few political parties, including those close to the BJP, the Lok Sabha on Thursday passed by voice vote the Bill that makes instant triple talaq or talaq-e-biddat a criminal offence, with a jail term of up to three years. 

Govt. refuses Congress’s plea for review by House panel

The proposed law would be applicable to the entire country, except in Jammu and Kashmir. It would make instant talaq punishable and would be a cognisable, non-bailable offence.

Historic step

Calling it a historic step, Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the Bill — The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill 2017 — will act as a deterrent since there have been 100 cases of triple talaq even after the landmark judgment of the Supreme Court delivered in August this year.

• He said that while 22 Islamic countries, including Pakistan and Bangladesh, had regulated instant triple talaq, there was no effective law in India
• Neither Prime Minister Narendra Modi nor Congress president Rahul Gandhi was present in the
• Lok Sabha when the Bill was passed.

Did not refer to Parliamentary Standing Committee

The Minister turned down demands from the Leader of the Congress Mallikarjun Kharge to refer the Bill to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Law and Justice. 

Opposed the bill

Members from the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the CPI(M), the Samajwadi Party, the All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul Muslimeen and the All India Muslim League, as also parties considered close to the BJP, such as the Biju Janata Dal and the AIADMK, opposed the Bill, saying it was arbitrary and a faulty proposal being passed in haste. 

Might affect passage in the Rajya Sabha

Not having BJD and AIADMK on board will impact the bill’s smooth passage in the Rajya Sabha as the Opposition has more numbers than the NDA.

Key questions

• Sushmita Dev, articulating the Congress’s support for the Bill, also raised key questions such as who would pay the subsistence allowance mentioned in the Bill to the wife if the husband was sent to jail
• Dev asked the Law Minister if the government would create a corpus to help the victims.

Shah Bano Judgement

Speaking on behalf of her party, BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi made an impassioned appeal in support of the Bill and attacked the Congress by reminding the party that it had opposed the Shah Bano judgement of the Supreme Court in 1986.

TnC Didn’t take part

Despite being second largest opposition party in Lok Sabha, Trinamool Congress members didn’t take part in the debate despite being present.