New Delhi: The contentious triple talaq Bill seeking to criminalise the practice of instant divorce among Muslims is set to be tabled in the Rajya Sabha today, even as the Congress has said it will not allow its passage in the present form.
The ruling BJP has issued a whip in the Upper House asking its members to be present.
All you need to know about the Bill
- The fresh Bill to make the practice of triple talaq among Muslims a penal offence was introduced in 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 Bill was cleared by the Lok Sabha - 245 voting in favour and 11 opposing it - on Thursday amid a walkout by the Opposition.
- Law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad will table the bill in the Upper House.
- All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary KC Venugopal told reporters in Kochi Saturday the party would join hands with others to prevent the bill from getting passed in the House.
- Venugopal said that 10 opposition parties had openly come out against the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2018 when it was introduced in the Lok Sabha.
- The opposition has questioned the stringent provisions like criminalisation of a civil wrong in the triple talaq Bill.
- On Thursday, the government rejected the Opposition's contention the bill it was aimed at targeting a particular community.
- Describing the passage of the triple talaq bill in the Lok Sabha as a historic step towards ensuring equality and dignity of Muslim women, BJP chief Amit Shah had demanded an apology from the Congress for "decades of injustice".
- The fresh bill will 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 cleared some amendments, including the 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.
- The government is at liberty to re-promulgate the ordinance if the bill fails to get through Parliament.
With PTI inputs
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