India’s lower house clears triple talaq bill
NEW DELHI — The lower house of India’s Parliament on Thursday approved a bill to implement the Supreme Court’s ruling that found the Muslim practice of instant divorce was unconstitutional.
The Congress and other main opposition parties walked out of the house in opposition to a three-year jail term for a husband who divorced in such a way, arguing that no other religion has such punishment for desertion. The bill also had no clarity on spousal support if men were jailed for an instant divorce, the opposition leaders said.
Mallikarjun Kharge, a Congress party leader, demanded that a parliamentary committee consider these provisions of the bill to reach a consensus on the issue.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government doesn’t have a majority in the upper house and will need some opposition support to make the bill a law.
Last year, the Supreme Court ruled that allowing Muslim men to divorce by instant “triple talaq” violated the constitutional rights of Muslim women.
NEW DELHI — The Lok Sabha on Thursday passed the bill which criminalises the practice of instant triple talaq, with the government rejecting the contention that it was aimed at targeting a particular community.
The opposition, which had been demanding that the bill be referred to a ‘joint select committee’, staged a walkout when its demand was rejected by the government.
The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill 2018 was passed by the Lower House with 245 voting in favour and 11 opposing the legislation.
The bill will now go to Rajya Sabha for approval.
Piloting the bill, Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said that there should be no politics on the bill, stressing that it was not against any particular community.
“Don’t weigh the bill on the scales of politics. The bill is about humanity and justice,” he said, urging lawmakers of different parties to speak in one voice to support the legislation.
He regretted that opposition parties were creating hurdles in its passage due to “vote bank politics”.
The fresh bill will supersede an earlier bill passed in the Lok Sabha and pending in the Rajya Sabha.
The Bill to make the practice of triple talaq among Muslims a penal offence was introduced in Lok Sabha on December 17 to replace an ordinance issued in September.
Under the proposed law, giving instant triple talaq in one go will be illegal and void, and will attract a jail term of three years for the husband.
In view of the opposition by some parties in the upper house, the government had then cleared some amendments, including introduction of a provision of bail, to make it more acceptable.
Congress, TMC, AIADMK and RJD staged walkout soon after Prasad concluded his reply. Several amendments moved by opposition were negated by a division that was insisted by opposition members.
Responding to demand of opposition parties, including the Congress and the Trinamool Congress, that the bill be sent to a select committee for study, Prasad said the government has already taken note of concerns expressed by members earlier and amended the bill accordingly.
Prasad said the bill has made the offence compoundable, meaning that the case can be withdrawn if the man and his estranged wife reach a compromise, and that only the wife and her close relatives can file an FIR, ruling out the law’s misuse.
He said as many as 477 cases of triple talaq have been reported since January 2017 and cited a case where a professor gave talaq to his wife over WhatsApp.
Whereas another man gave talaq to his wife for attending the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rally, the union law minister said, urging if the House unitedly can pass a bill for capital punishment for rape of girls below age of 12 years, then why not this legislation.
Leader of Congress Party in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge said that bill was against the spirit of the Constitution and has violated several articles dealing with the rights of individuals.
Congress MP Sushmita Dev said the real purpose of the bill was not to empower Muslim women but to “penalise” Muslim men.
Demanding that the bill be referred to the joint select committee of Parliament, Dev said criminalisation of triple talaq goes against the Supreme Court verdict. AIADMK leader P Venugopal, TMC’s Sudip Bandhopadhyay, AIMIM’s Assaduddin Owaisi and Supriya Sule (NCP) also made similar demands.
Union minister Smriti Irani said if Parliament can enact laws to ban dowry and the practice of sati, it can also approve the bill to ban instant triple talaq.
Defending the penal provisions in the bill, Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said it was important to instil fear in the minds of those still practising it and rejected suggestions that it was against any religion. —
Do not look at it from the prism of politics but from that of humanity. It is aimed at giving justice, respect
Ravi Shankar Prasad, Law Minister
In any other religion, there is no punishment for desertion... The Triple Talaq Bill is not about empowering Muslim women, it is about penalising a Muslim man Sushmita Dev,
Congress leader
It seemed to me that some of the people are standing with the accused instead of the victim. If you are afraid of the punishment, why commit the crime in the first place?
Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi,
BJP leader Four crore women signed a petition saying they do not want the bill then who are these Muslim women who want it
SQR Ilayas, member of working panel of All India Muslim Personal Law Board