Govt rejects Oppn claim that triple talaq Bill penalises Muslim community

The government on Thursday rejected Opposition's claim that the Bill to penalise the practice of instant triple talaq by Muslim men was aimed at targeting any commuinity.  

Replying to a debate on the triple talaq Bill in Lok Sabha, Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad alleged that the Opposition was not supporting the Bill due to "vote bank politics".

He said that sufficient safeguards such as provision of bail have been added to ensure that the draft law is not misused.

The fresh Bill to make the practice of triple talaq among Muslims a penal offence was introduced in the 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 is proposed to 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.

Citing details of instant triple talaq cases, the government had last week informed the 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 judgement, while another 201 came to the notice after it.

These cases were reported between the period of January 2017 and September 13, 2018.