The Lok Sabha on Thursday passed the contentious Triple Talaq bill. Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, moving the bill for consideration, said the bill is about gender justice.
“Don’t look at this issue through political lenses. This is an issue of justice and humanity... an issue of women rights and empowerment... we can’t abandon our Muslim sisters,” Prasad was quoted as saying by NDTV.
Prasad, according to PTI, said the legislation was a must for gender equality and justice as despite an August 2017 Supreme Court verdict striking down the practice of instant triple talaq , women are being divorced by ‘talaq-e-biddat’.
He said, since January 2017, 574 such cases have been reported by the media.
Three ordinances have so been promulgated as a similar bill moved by the previous government could not get parliamentary nod.
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A fresh bill was introduced by the new government in June during the ongoing Parliament session.
Under the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2019, divorcing through instant triple talaq will be illegal, void and would attract a jail term of three years for the husband.
Prasad said to allay fears that the proposed law could be misused, the government has included certain safeguards in it such as adding a provision of bail for the accused before trial.
While the bill makes triple talaq a “non-bailable” offence, an accused can approach a magistrate even before trial to seek bail.
In a non-bailable offence, bail cannot be granted by police at the police station itself.
A provision has been added to allow the magistrate to grant bail “after hearing the wife”, the minister said.
(With PTI inputs)