Union cabinet approves fresh bill to ban triple talaq

The bill will be introduced in the Budget session of Parliament which begins on Monday to replace the ordinance issued in February by the previous BJP-led NDA government.

Representational Image: PTI

New Delhi: The Union Cabinet on Wednesday decided to clear a fresh bill to ban the practice of instant triple talaq, in a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Once passed by Parliament, the proposed bill will replace an ordinance issued earlier this year. With the dissolution of the 16th Lok Sabha last month, the contentious bill had lapsed as it could not be passed by Parliament and was pending in Rajya Sabha. The bill will be introduced in the Budget session of Parliament which begins on Monday to replace the ordinance issued in February by the previous BJP-led NDA government. The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, which made the practice of instant triple talaq (talaq-e-biddat) a penal offence, had faced objections from the opposition parties which claimed that jail term for a man for divorcing his wife was legally untenable. Union minister Prakash Javadekar said the proposed legislation is based on gender equality and is part of the government's philosophy of Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas' . The new bill will be a copy of the ordinance in force and the minister hoped that it will be passed "unanimously" by Rajya Sabha, where the government lacks numbers. Bills that are introduced in Rajya Sabha and are pending there do not lapse with the dissolution of Lok Sabha. However, bills passed by Lok Sabha and pending in Rajya Sabha lapse with the dissolution of the lower house. The government had promulgated the ordinance on triple talaq twice - in  September 2018 and in February 2019 , as the contentious bill remained pending in Rajya Sabha, though it was passed by Lok Sabha. Under the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Ordinance, 2019, divorcing through instant triple talaq is illegal, void and will attract a jail term of three years for the husband Seeking to allay fears that the proposed law could be misused, the government has included certain safeguards in it such as adding a provision for bail for the accused during trial. These amendments were cleared by the Cabinet on August 29, 2018. While the ordinance makes it 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 was added to allow the magistrate to grant bail "after hearing the wife", the government had said. In the first session of the 17th Lok Sabha, the new government plans to convert 10 ordinances, including the one to ban the practice of instant triple talaq, into law. (with inputs from PTI)