The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill 2019 has been passed by the Rajya Sabha after an intense discussion which lasted around 5 hours. The bill is also commonly known as the Triple Talaq Bill and was passed by the Lok Sabha on Thursday (July 25th, 2019).
The bill was declared to be passed by the Rajya Sabha Chairman Venkaiah Naidu with 99 votes in support and 84 votes against. The votes do not include BSP, TRS, TDP, JD(U) and AIADMK, who abstained from voting. The house majority had rejected the statutory resolution moved to refer the bill to a select committee. Further, the amendment moved by the opposition for removing penal clauses of the bill was also rejected.
Last year the bill was passed during the winter session in December 2018, however, it had got lapsed due to non-clearance by Rajya Sabha before the dissolution of 16th Lok Sabha. Although later, Triple Talaq Ordinance was brought in by the Centre in February, which is supposed to be replaced by the current bill.
The Bill declares pronouncement of talaq in the written or electronic form to be void and illegal. It has also made the pronouncement of triple talaq an offence punishable with up to three-year imprisonment and fine. For the purposes of the Bill, talaq has been defined as “ talaq-e-biddat or any other similar form of talaq having the effect of instantaneous and irrevocable divorce pronounced by a Muslim husband.”
Arrest in case of an offence under the bill can be made only when the complaint has been lodged by the victim wife or her close blood relatives. Triple talaq has been made a bailable offence under the bill and bail can be granted by the magistrate after hearing the victim wife. It also provides for the grant of custody of a minor child to the wife and maintenance as determined by the magistrate.
The earlier version of the bill which was passed by the Lok Sabha on December 2017 which had made the offence cognizable allowing anybody to lodge an FIR against the practice. The offence was also non-bailable and non-compoundable as per the previous version. However, the same has been changed in the current bill. The bill came into existence after the Supreme Court had declared triple talaq to be unconstitutional in August 2017.
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