Triple Talaq Bill Lok Sabha update

The controversial Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2018, also known as the Triple Talaq bill, will be tabled in the Lok Sabha on Thursday.  The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has issued a whip to all its lawmakers, asking them to be present in the House in full strength. 

The Parliament is meeting on December 27 after a long weekend Christmas holiday. Both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha has been witnessing disruptions over a range of issues, including protests by the Congress, which is demanding a joint parliamentary committee probe on the Rafale deal.

* “We will appeal to the government that it should not interfere in a religious matter. We will take part in the discussions today,” says Congress’ Mallikarjun Kharge.

* Congress has issued a whip asking its Lok Sabha MPs to be present in the House today, reports news agency ANI.

* The BJP on Tuesday issued a whip to its Lok Sabha members asking them to be present in the Lower House on December 27 when the Triple Talaq Bill will be taken up for discussion. The bill, which has faced resistance from several parties, is also likely to be put to vote on that day.

*Parliamentary Affairs Minister Narendra Singh Tomar Wednesday sought an assurance from the Opposition that it would allow discussion on the bill without disruption.

*The fresh 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 will be illegal and void, and will attract a jail term of three years for the husband. The fresh bill will supersede an earlier bill passed in the Lok Sabha and pending in the Rajya Sabha. The earlier bill was approved by the Lower House. But amid 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. However, as the bill continued to face resistance in the Rajya Sabha, the government issued an ordinance in September, incorporating the amendments. An ordinance has a life of six months. But from the day a session begins, it has to be replaced by a bill which should be passed by Parliament within 42 days (six weeks), else it lapses. The government is at liberty to re-promulgate the ordinance if the bill fails to get through Parliament.

* Introducing the bill, Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said despite the Supreme Court striking down the practice of talaq-e-biddat (instant triple talaq), terming it unconstitutional, divorces in this form were taking place. Citing details of instant triple talaq cases, the government had last week informed Lok Sabha that till now 430 incidents of triple talaq have come to the notice of the government through the media. Of these, 229 were reported before the Supreme Court judgment, while another 201 came to the notice after it. These cases were reported between the period of January 2017 and September 13, 2018. 

* In a landmark 3-2 verdict, the Supreme Court found the practice un-Islamic and “arbitrary”, and disagreed that Triple Talaq was an integral part of religious practice.