NEW DELHI : The Congress-led Opposition has been demanding that the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill 2017 be sent to a Select Committee for further scrutiny. The BJP-led government, which does not have a majority in the Upper House, had also made efforts to get the bill cleared in the Budget Session also.
Today, when the Rajya Sabha reconvened at 2:30 PM after two adjournments in the pre-lunch session, Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu said he has decided that the bills “on which there is some sort of broad consensus” will be taken up for discussion and passage later in the day.
Naidu also clarified that the Triple Talaq Bill will not be taken up today as a consensus has not yet been evolved on the issue. The Union Cabinet had yesterday cleared some amendments to the draft Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2017 bill, including adding a bail provision to it.
The amendments came after the Supreme Court on August 22 last year had struck down ‘triple talaq’, calling unconstitutional. The Lok Sabha had passed the Bill in December. However, amendments to the draft legislation, once cleared by the Rajya Sabha, will again be sent to the Lower House for passage.
The Rajya Sabha was adjourned twice within minutes during the pre-lunch session today amid protest by Congress members over their demand for a JPC probe into the alleged scam in the Rafale jet deal.
The Bill that prohibits divorce of Muslim couples by pronouncing ‘talaq’ back-to-back thrice by their husbands, was passed in the Lok Sabha on December 28, 2017. The Union Cabinet on Thursday approved three crucial amendments to the Bill, including a provision for bail to an accused before the start of the trial. This was one of the three demands put forth by the Congress to support the Bill.
The other two demands are allowing a close relative of the victim to file a case on her behalf and to allow a magistrate to settle disputes between the couple, which the government has refused to incorporate in the Bill.(With Agency Inputs ).