Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad tables Triple Talaq Bill in Lok Sabha, fresh ruckus in House

A fresh Bill to ban the practice of instant triple talaq was introduced in the Lok Sabha by Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Friday. The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2019, which has been listed in the Lok Sabha's agenda for Friday, will replace an ordinance issued in February by the previous BJP-led NDA government. With the dissolution of the 16th Lok Sabha last month, the previous bill had lapsed as it was pending in the Rajya Sabha. 

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# Triple Talaq bill is unconstitutional. It's a violation of Constitution's Article 14 & 15. We already have Domestic Violence Act 2005, CrPC Section 125, Muslim Women Marriage Act. If Triple Talaq Bill becomes a law it will be even greater injustice against women, Owaisi, AIMIM.

# If a man gets arrested, how will he give allowance from jail? Govt says if a Muslim man commits this crime the marriage will remain intact&he'll be jailed for 3 yrs if punished by court. He'll be jailed for 3 yrs but marriage will be intact! What law is Mr Modi forming? Owaisi

#The house has been adjourned and will re-commence at 2:30 pm.

#186 votes in favour of the bill to be tabled in the parliament while 74 votes against the bill.

#People have chosen us to make laws. It is our work to make laws. Law is to give justice to the victims of Triple Talaq, said Prasad.

#Ravi Shankar Prasad responds to Owaisi and Tharoor and says that the rights of Muslim women will be protected as the Bill is about justice and empowerment of women. 

#"If customs and traditions can be protected by law, it is good. It is not appropriate to drag devotees to the streets. Earlier too, we had requested Centre to pass legislation regarding this," says Kerala Devaswom Minister, Kadakampally Surendran on Sabarimala issue 

#Congress MP Shahi Tharoor opposed the introduction of Triple Talaq Bill. Tharoor said that he is against instant Talaq but is opposed to making it a criminal offence. He adds that the scope of the bill should be extended to women of all communities and religion. 

#AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi opposes the Bill and says it violates Article 14 and 15 of the Constitution. He also adds that the government does not care about Muslim women and brings up the Sabrimala issue to question the government on women rights. 

#The Triple Talaq Bill has been introduced by Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad. 

What is the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill?

The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, which made the practice of instant triple talaq (talaq-e-biddat) a penal offence, was opposed by opposition parties which claimed that jail term for the husband for divorcing his wife was legally untenable.

The government had promulgated the ordinance on triple talaq twice. A Bill to convert the earlier ordinance, issued in September 2018, was cleared by the Lok Sabha in December and was pending in the Rajya Sabha

Since the bill could not get parliamentary approval, a fresh ordinance was issued.

Seeking to allay fears that the proposed law could be misused, the government has included certain safeguards in it such as adding a provision for bail for the accused during trial. 

These amendments were cleared by the Cabinet on August 29, 2018. While the ordinance makes it a "non-bailable" offence, an accused can approach a magistrate even before trial to seek bail.

In a non-bailable offence, bail cannot be granted by police at the police station itself. A provision was added to allow the magistrate to grant bail "after hearing the wife", the government had said.

With PTI Inputs