On the 25th of July, with the majority of votes of the Members of Parliament (MPs,) the Triple Talaq Bill, officially known as Women Protection of Rights on Marriage Bill 2019, was passed in the Lok Sabha.
Although the opposition parties opposed the bill, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP,) who has the highest number of MPs in the House gave a green signal to the Triple Talaq Bill.
According to the Triple Talaq Bill, repeating talaq three times to divorce a Muslim woman, is an offence which will lead to imprisonment. Any Muslim man who initiates triple talaq, either orally, face to face or through a phone call, through writing, or any social media platform, will be punished.
However, a case filed under the triple talaq bill will be valid only if the wife or a blood relative of the wife files the case. Besides, registered under triple talaq, the accused will not be given any bail, as it is a non bailable offence. Wherein, bail can only be granted by the magistrate after the plea from the wife. The case will be closed if the couple agrees to a settlement.
Ravi Shankar Prasad, the Law Minister of India, spoke about the increased cases of triple talaq and said, it is necessary to pass the Bill, which will help Muslim women. He said, even after the Supreme Court (SC) struck down the practice, men are still giving instant talaq and leaving their wives.
Mr. Prasad said, “When Hindus and Muslims are jailed under dowry law or the Domestic Violence Act, no one objects. What is the objection in penalising the practice.”
The Bill was passed with a majority of 303 MPs, whereas 82 MPs of the Trinamool Congress (TMC,) the Indian National Congress (INC) and the Janata Dal (United) (JD[U]) were against it.
Asaduddin Owaisi, the President of the All India Majlis e Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) also objected to the Triple Talaq Bill and said, “You will jail the husband without telling us how will he provide maintenance to the wife. Also, this woman will be bound to this man till he serves his three year long sentence. Why should a woman spend three years of her life waiting for a convicted man to get out of jail? This law is against criminal jurisprudence.”
In addition, Owaisi said, “You will put the burden of proof on the wife. Who from the husband’s side of the family is going to come and testify against him in court? (sic.)”
Speaking about the proof Rajiv Ranjan Singh, a MP of the JD(U,) also said, “If a man said it to his wife when the case goes to court and the man denies having said it, how will you prove it?(sic.)”
Jayadev Galla, a MP representing the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) claimed the bill is an injustice to Hindu and Christian women, who were also abandoned by their husbands. The TDP MP said, “There are more Hindu and Christian women who have been abandoned by their husbands than there are Muslim women. Only 10 % of Muslim women in the country have been abandoned. If you want justice for the women, why not the Christian or the Hindu women?”
The INC requested the House to send the bill to the Standing Committee for scrutiny and think in a way which caters to the women of all communities, not only Muslim women, as Hindu women are being divorced in a higher rate. However, this request was not considered and the Bill was passed, following which the INC, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and the Samajwadi Party (SP) leaders walked out of the ongoing session.
This is not the first time the BJP Government tabled the Bill in the Lok Sabha. In the 16th Lok Sabha also, the BJP passed the Bill, but it collapsed in the Rajya Sabha.
The Triple Talaq Bill will be tabled in the Rajya Sabha after it gets approval in the Lok Sabha.
Stay tuned for further updates.
