Oppn, Muslim law board up ante against talaq bill

NEW DELHI: As the NDA government gets ready to introduce a bill in Parliament to criminalise instant Triple Talaq , leaders from Opposition parties said on Sunday that they were unhappy with several key provisions, and the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) said it would urge Prime Minister Narendra Modi to withhold and withdraw the proposed law.

The stance indicates another tussle may be in the offing on the floor of the House in the winter session, which has been acrimonious because of the Congress party’s demand that Modi apologise to former PM Manmohan Singh over remarks made about him on the campaign trail in the recent Gujarat elections.

On Sunday, the Congress and the CPI(M) questioned the requirement of an instant triple talaq law, while the BJD, the fifthlargest party in the House, opposed the penal provision of a jail term for husbands.

AIMLB spokesman Maulana Sajjad Nomani, after an emergency meeting in Lucknow, said: “The terms set out in the proposed bill not only encroach upon the constitutional guarantees granted to religious minorities but are also against the very essence of the verdict delivered by the Supreme Court on August 22, 2017 in instant triple divorce matter.” He added that the Centre neither followed procedure nor consulted the stakeholders while giving shape to the bill.

The bill to ban instant triple talaq, or talaq-e-biddat, was circulated among members of Parliament last week—a procedural formality before its introduction in the House. Sources said the government may introduce the bill on Wednesday, when the House resumes after Christmas.

The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill 2017 criminalises instant triple talaq and imposes a prison term of up to three years and fine on husbands who violate the law. It also aims to provide alimony for the woman on whom instant triple talaq has been pronounced and grants her the custody of her children.

CONGRESS, CPI(M) UNHAPPY WITH SEVERAL KEY PROVISIONS, MUSLIM BODY AIMPLB PLANS TO URGE PM MODI TO WITHDRAW BILL