Triple Talaq Bill Passed in Lok Sabha, Next Stop Rajya Sabha

The Lok Sabha on Thursday passed a bill that criminalises instant divorce with three years of imprisonment for Muslim husbands after the government rejected an overwhelming demand from the Opposition to refer the legislation to a Parliamentary standing committee for detailed consideration.

The bill, prepared by an inter-ministerial group and headed by Home Minister Rajnath Singh, makes instant triple talaq or talaq-e-biddat in any form – spoken, in writing or by electronic means such as email, SMS and WhatsApp – “illegal and void” and provides for a jail term of three years for the husband.

Triple Talaq Bill was passed in the Lok Sabha.

The motion for consideration of the bill was adopted.

Both the amendments proposed by AIMIM’s Asaduddin Owaisi was negatived.

Responding to the opposition’s criticism of the draft of the Triple Talaq Bill, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said, “If someone doesn’t like the drafting, we will have to rework it but yes, the affected Muslim sisters are extremely happy with the draft.”

Supriya Sule from NCP, the third woman to debate on triple talaq in the Lok Sabha cited the misuse of dowry law and questioned the possibility of a similar kind of misuse in Triple Talaq Bill.

MJ Akbar, Union Minister of State for External Affairs in Lok Sabha referred to an anecdote and said that Nehru had once noted that the times were not ideal to enact a bill on Muslim marriages around the same time as the Hindu Marriage Act was enacted in 1955.

He also questioned the credibility of AIMPLB and asked, “What is the credibility of All India Muslim Personal Law Board? Who chose them to be community representatives?”

Questioning the amendments proposed by Ravi Shankar Prasad, Congress member Sushmita Dev said that while her party is not opposed to the bill, it is full of lacunaes.

Comparing the proposed amendments to the 1984 act, Dev asked how will the women ensure the subsistence allowance if the husband is sent to jail over the very utterance of triple talaq. She said the amendments leave no scope for reconciliation.

Prasad had earlier said, “Obligation to maintain the wife and children is the ultimate moral law in all religion.”

Dev also questioned as to whether the bill can ensure that the Muslim community is not furthered alienated by it.

Presenting the Triple Talaq Bill in the Lok Sabha, Minister of Law and Justice, Ravi Shankar Prasad said the issue of triple talaq is not an issue of faith but gender justice.

He told the house that there have been a total of 300 case of triple talaq in 2017, among which a 100 of them were filed after the AIMPLB submitted an affidavit to the SC saying that they would issue an advisory to grooms and brides to not resort to triple talaq.

Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad introduced the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, calling it a "historic day" amid opposition to its introduction by members of different parties, including RJD, AIMIM, BJD and All India Muslim League.

The law is about justice and respect for women and is not about any religion or community, he said, adding that the practice of instant triple has continued despite the Supreme Court order terming it void.

Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi said, “This bill violates fundamental rights and lacks legal coherence.”

BJD MP Bhartruhari Mahtab also opposed the bill and said that it needs reconsideration.

The Rajya Sabha today witnessed two adjournments in the pre-lunch session, as the opposition continued to protest over the controversial remarks by minister Anantkumar Hegde. Meanwhile, a BJP member pressed for a privilege notice against Congress president Rahul Gandhi for "twisting" Arun Jaitley's name.

Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu said he would examine the privilege notice by BJP's Bhupender Yadav against Gandhi and added that any comment from outside the House on an agreement between the ruling side and the opposition was not good.

The House was adjourned briefly in the pre-noon session as the main opposition Congress continued protests over Hegde's remark on secularism and changing the Constitution.

Leader of the Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad raised the issue relating to Hegde's remarks and sought to know whether a "person who does not believe in the Constitution can continue to be a memberr of Council of Ministers".

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Vijay Goel said Hegde has clarified his statement in the Lok Sabha and expressed regret, so no issue remains and the matter should be put to rest.

The House was adjourned again little after noon till 2 pm.

The government today slammed Pakistan for the "discourteous" behaviour meted out to the mother and wife of Kulbhushan Jadhav in Islamabad, where they had gone to meet the Indian national who is in custody there.

Making a statement in both houses of Parliament, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said that in the name of security, Pakistani authorities forced his mother and wife to change clothes and take off their jewellery, including their 'mangalsutras', and bindis.

Swaraj said the Pakistani claim that there was a device in the shoes of Jadhav's wife is "absurdity beyond measure" as she travelled through Dubai airport security and their own security to reach Islamabad.

The government, she said, had earlier successfully stalled Jadhav's death sentence through a "farcical trial".

She also lamented that authorities there allowed media to come close to Jadhav's family members, despite an agreement that they would not do so.

In response, leaders of all political parties in the House condemned the Pakistani attitude.

Later, Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu said the entire House calls upon the government to take steps for the safe, secure release of Jadhav. He said the House also urges the international community to condemn Pakistan's attitude.

A day after there was a ruckus in Lok Sabha over Anantkumar Hegde’s comment, he clarified saying that the “Constitution is supreme to me.” He was speaking ahead of today’s proceedings in Parliament.

Congress' Mallikarjun Kharge objected to Anantkumar Hegde's clarification, following which Hegde said, 'If anyone was hurt by my statements I tender an apology.'

Congress leader Salman Khurshid suggested that the Congress won’t back the Triple Talaq Bill completely since they have reservations against the criminality clause.

After the BJP Parliamentary meeting, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar said the Prime Minister appealed for unanimous passage of the Triple Talaq bill in the Lok Sabha today.

BJP parliamentary party meeting is underway at Parliament's Library Building.

The Congress party is planning to protest in front of the Gandhi statue inside Parliament complex over the GST and Anantkumar Hegde's comments on the Constitution, sources said.

A bill seeking to criminalise the practice of instant talaq or triple talaq among Muslims is set to be introduced in the Lok Sabha today.

The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill is listed for introduction in the Lok Sabha by Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on 28 December, according to the list of businesses to be taken up in the lower house.

The bill, prepared by an inter-ministerial group and headed by Home Minister Rajnath Singh, makes instant triple talaq or talaq-e-biddat in any form – spoken, in writing or by electronic means such as email, SMS and WhatsApp – “illegal and void” and provides for a jail term of three years for the husband.

It was cleared by the Union Cabinet earlier this month.

Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar requested all Opposition parties to help pass the bill in Parliament.

The BJP is believed to have issued a three-line whip to its MPs, asking them to be present in the Lok Sabha on Thursday when the government plans to introduce the bill

Leaders across party lines on Wednesday, 27 December, condemned Pakistan's “misbehaviour” with the wife and mother of alleged Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav, who the women met in Islamabad on 25 December.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has promised to make a statement in the House today.

As the government made peace with the Congress over Prime Minister Narendra Modi's remarks against his predecessor Manmohan Singh to end the impasse, the Rajya Sabha on 27 December witnessed disruptions over Minister Anantkumar Hegde's words on amending the Constitution.

However, normalcy returned in the post lunch sitting, after the government distanced itself from Minister of State for Skill Development's comments and also clarified that Modi did not mean to question his predecessor's commitment towards the nation. The House then passed two bills – Indian Forest (Amendment) Bill, 2017 and Indian Institute of Petroleum and Energy Bill, 2017.

As the upper house met after a four-day break, opposition members across party lines objected strongly to Hegde's comments that the word “secular” needs to be removed from the Preamble of the Constitution. Opposition leaders sought his removal from Parliament as well as Council of Ministers, if he did not apologise for his comments.