Rajya Sabha Defers Triple Talaq Bill To Next Session Of Parliament

On December 29, the Lok Sabha passed the bill which seeks to make instant triple talaq a criminal offence, a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government tabled it in the lower house.

New Delhi: The much-debated Triple Talaq Bill was not tabled in Rajya Sabha on Friday due to lack of consensus on provisions of the Bill. The Monsoon Session of Parliament will not be extended as the Bill has been deferred to the next Session. The Union Cabinet on Thursday had approved an amendment to the bill. The Cabinet proposed three changes in the Muslim Women Protection of Rights on Marriage Bill, 2017-first, only the victim, a blood relation or relation by marriage are allowed to lodge FIR in the case, second, the case can be dropped if husband and wife agree to settle their differences and third, a magistrate can grant bail to men found guilty of giving instant triple talaq to their wives. However, the offence still remains non-bailable. If the amended bill is passed in the upper house, it will have to go back to Lok Sabha for approval of the amendments. On December 29, the Lok Sabha passed the bill which seeks to make instant triple talaq a criminal offence, a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government tabled it in the lower house. The Bill proposes a three-year jail term for a Muslim man who divorces his wife in any form of spoken, written or by electronic means such as email, SMS, and WhatsApp. Triple talaq, or verbal divorce, is practiced by a section in the Muslim community to instantly divorce their wives by uttering 'talaq' three times. Meanwhile, the BJP today held Congress president Rahul Gandhi responsible for the triple talaq bill not getting the parliamentary nod in the Monsoon Session, saying his party supported it in the Lok Sabha but not in the Rajya Sabha due to its double standards. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar told reporters that Gandhi and his party are directly responsible for the stalling of the bill, which entails prison term for Muslim men charged with instant divorce. The Lok Sabha, which passed the bill, was adjourned sine die today. Kumar termed the Monsoon Session a landmark session, saying 21 bills were passed in the House which sat for 20 hours more than the allocated time. (With additional information from Agencies)