The ‘Triple Talaq Bill’ has been passed by the Parliament on declaration by Rajya Sabha Chairman Shri Venkaiah Naidu of the Bill receiving 99 ‘yes’ votes as against ‘84’ no votes after a debate stretching five hours on 30th July. The Lok Sabha has already passed the Bill on 25th July.
AIADMK, BSP, JD(U), TRS, and TDP abstained from voting.
The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill 2019 now awaits the President’s assent before it gets notified in the Official Gazette.
The Bill makes instant triple talaq a cognizable offence. The provision was vehemently opposed but the Law Minister stayed firm, saying when other matrimonial wrongs are penalized, there is no ground of opposition to criminalization of triple talaq.
It has incorporated all amendments suggested to it in the previous Lok Sabha’s winter session when the Bill was first tabled.
The Bill stands for women empowerment and gender equality, according to Union Minister for Minority Affairs, Mukhthar Abbas Naqvi.
AIADMK’s A Navaneethakrishnan’s suggestion of the provisions of the Bill being revisited by a select committee was discarded.
Leader of opposition, Ghulam Nabi Azad, said the Bill has set on a path to criminalize a civil wrong. Several parliamentarians have called the triple talaq issue a mere ‘matrimonial dispute’.
Nevertheless, the Bill stands passed. A victim wife in a case of triple talaq, or her close blood relatives can file a complaint under this new law. The offence will be compoundable at the instance of the wife on such terms and conditions as deemed fit by the Magistrate. The offence is also bailable, and Magistrate can grant bail, but only after hearing the wife. The Bill provides for grant of custody of the minor child to the wife, and also maintenance suitably determined by the Magistrate.
Read the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019 below:
https://drive.google.com/drive/u/1/folders/1q4TtbSSmbTCxs6zZOx-hmdo4tJePvSui
–India Legal Bureau