Ordinance to make triple talaq offence
It allows only a woman, or a close relative, to file a police case against her husband for instant divorce |
There was an overpowering urgency and a compelling necessity to bring the ordinance as the practice continued unabated despite the Supreme Court order.” R.S. Prasad | Law minister
BJP, finding itself cornered on the issue of repeated and gruesome rape incidents and issues of women’s security, is seeking to divert and reset the political agenda.” R.S. Surjewala| Congress spokesperson
We are thankful to the central government for heeding the voice of Muslim women who demanded the above amendments.” Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan
In Islam, marriage is a civil contract. It is wrong to apply penal provisions on it. This is bad in law and bad in Constitution. I am sure that it will be challenged.” Asaduddin Owaisi | AIMIM leader
India’s Cabinet yesterday approved an ordinance making the practice of “triple talaq” or instant divorce a criminal offence.
The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2017 was cleared by the Lok Sabha (Lower House of Parliament) in December last year but got stuck in the Rajya Sabha (Upper House).
As the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government did not have a majority in the Rajya Sabha, the draft bill was deferred last month.
The Ordinance allows only a woman, or a close relative, to file a police case against her husband for instant “triple talaq”. It also allows a woman to drop the case if the husband comes around later and they reach a compromise. The woman will also be entitled to maintenance.
Call for Congress support
Last year, the Supreme Court (SC) outlawed the practice of “triple talaq” but the Narendra Modi-government decided to make it a nonbailable offence carrying a jail term of up to three years.
Yesterday, Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the government approved the Ordinance because the practice of ‘triple talaq’ persisted despite the SC decision.
“There was a compelling necessity to introduce the measure,” Prasad said.
“The core component of this Ordinance is that an offence will be cognisable only when the First Information Report [FIR] is filed by the victim wife or her close relations by blood or marriage,” he stated.
The Law minister said vote bank politics had prevented Congress from supporting the Bill.
“We tried to reach out to the Congress Party five to six times to develop consensus for the passage of the Bill but they did not cooperate on this sensitive matter of women empowerment. We would now appreciate Congress’ support on the floor of the House, not in front of television channels,” Prasad stated.
He informed the media that between January 2017 and September 2018, 430 cases of “triple talaq” were reported in the country.
“As many as 229 cases were reported prior to Supreme Court judgement and 201 cases reported after the judgement,” Prasad said.