‘The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2019′ passed in Rajya Sabha yesterday, making Triple talaq a criminal offense.
This legislation has made a declaration of Triple Talaq cognizable offense as in police have the authority to arrest an offender without any warrant and the offender can be punished with imprisonment for up to three years.
The Triple Talaq bill also awards a Muslim woman the right to seek subsistence for herself and her dependent children. But the subsistence amount will be decided by the magistrate.
A Muslim woman, divorced by Triple Talaq declaration reserves the right to seek custody of her minor children but this too will be decided by the magistrate.
Though this legislation grants bail for the offender, the bail will be warranted only after the magistrate hears the offended woman.
The Triple Talaq declaration was already made unconstitutional and devoid of any value by Indian Supreme Court in 2017.
The NDA government following Supreme Court verdict moved a law making Triple Talaq a criminal offense and this law was tabled in December 2017 in Lok Sabha. That time though Lok Sabha passed the bill as the NDA government enjoys the majority in Lok Sabha but in Rajya Sabha, the bill was rejected.
This year as the NDA government was reelected in power, they again moved the law for criminalizing Triple Talaq. The bill was passed in Lok Sabha last week on July 25 and it was sent to Rajya Sabha for approval.
The Triple Talaq Bill was passed in Rajya Sabha with 99-84 voice vote even though the opposition against criminalizing the Triple talaq was strong. The opposition voiced their concern that making Triple Talaq a criminal offense gives police and other parties a chance to target Muslims and to make it civil offense instead.
Though the opposition was strong, the clever maneuver of the NDA party on the Rajya Sabha floor made them come up with a victory. NDA (National Democratic Alliance ) was not up to their full strength of 113 in Rajya Sabha over Triple Talaq bill as their ally JDU was in the opposition for passing the bill.
The BJP(Bhartiya Janata Dal) banked their success mainly on the dissent of the opposition. The current number of members in Rajya Sabha is 242 and as many as 14 members from all parties were absent on the day and 19 members walked out. Of 19 members 12 were from AIADMK and 6 from JDU. Some members abstained from voting like members from PDP. But at the end BJP with the help of BJD(Baiju Janata Dal) scored a win in their favor and the bill is passed in Rajya Sabha. It now awaits the assent of President Ram Nath Kovind for it to become a law.
PM Modi applauds this victory as gender justice. “An archaic and medieval practice has finally been confined to the dustbin of history! Parliament abolishes Triple Talaq and corrects a historical wrong done to Muslim women. This is a victory of gender justice and will further equality in society. India rejoices today!” Modi wrote on Twitter.
President Kovind also is in support of the bill and cites it as a milestone in settling gender inequality. “A milestone in the quest for gender justice; a moment of satisfaction for the entire country,” he said.
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