Unwilling to yield to the Opposition’s demand for referring the anti-triple talaq Bill to a Rajya Sabha select committee, Centre allows proposed law to lapse 

With no consensus between the Centre and a united Opposition over the fate of the controversial Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, the Parliament’s winter session ended on Friday. 

The sine die adjournment of Parliament without the Bill’s passage by the Rajya Sabha means that the proposed legislation, despite being passed by the Lok Sabha on December 28, now stands lapsed. The Centre will have to go through the process of having it cleared by both Houses of Parliament, if and when it decides to move the Bill next – whether in its current form or in an amended version that addresses the concerns raised by the Opposition and legal fraternity. 

Following two days of vociferous protests by the Opposition and equally loud counter-arguments by the Treasury Benches over the Bill that proposes to make instant triple talaq a cognisable offence, both the BJP and the Congress had, on Friday, issued a whip to its members to be present in the Rajya Sabha. 

It was evident that neither the Centre nor the Opposition was willing to grant any quarter on their respective demands – the former hoping to get the Bill cleared by the Upper House while the latter pressing for it to be referred to a select committee. 

While the Lok Sabha had been adjourned sine die shortly past soon following the end of the Question Hour, Rajya Sabha chairman Venkaiah Naidu adjourned the House around 1 pm after conclusion of the Zero Hour.