Cabinet clears ordinance to make instant triple talaq a criminal offense
NEW DELHI : The Union cabinet has cleared an ordinance to make the practice of instant triple talaq a penal offence, Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said Wednesday, citing compelling necessity for the move as the practice annulled by the Supreme Court continues unabated.
However, the amended triple talaq bill provides for additional safeguards, including a provision for bail to an accused before the start of the trial. While the proposed law will remain “non-bailable” – the police cannot grant bail at the police station – the accused can approach a magistrate for bail even before trial. The Muslim Women Protection of Rights on Marriage Bill makes instant triple talaq illegal and imposes a jail term of up to three years.
Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad accused the Congress party of not cooperating in the passage of the ‘Muslim Women Protection of Rights on Marriage Bill, pending in the Rajya Sabha, because of vote bank politics. Citing details of the ordinance, he said a woman or her blood relative will have to file a case before a police station to make the offence cognizable. The offence is compoundable. A compromise can also be reached before a magistrate after the affected woman consents to it, he said.
In its first reaction, the Congress said the amended bill doesn’t address their concerns about how a triple talaq victim will be compensated if the husband is jailed. “We had suggested the provision of attaching the property of a husband but the Modi government is not interested in giving justice to Muslim women,”said Congress leader Randeep Surjewala.
Meanwhile, The BJP Monday described the government’s decision to bring an ordinance to make the practice of instant triple talaq a penal offence as a huge step towards “empowering women”. For all these years, the Congress politicised the triple talaq issue for vote bank politics. ( With Agency Inputs ).
