Two major bills lapse

The contentious Citizenship (amendment) Bill and the bill banning triple talaq are set to lapse on June 3 when the term of the present Lok Sabha ends as they were not be passed in the Rajya Sabha, which adjourned sine die on Wednesday.

The 17th Lok Sabha has to be constituted before June 3 and Lok Sabha polls are likely to held in April-May.

Bills introduced in the Rajya Sabha and pending there do not lapse with the dissolution of the Lok Sabha. Bills passed by the Lok Sabha and pending in the Rajya Sabha lapse.

The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019 provides for according Indian citizenship to Hindus, Jains, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Parsis from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan after seven years of residence in India instead of 12 years , which is the norm currently, even if they do not possess any document.

Though the bill was passed by the Lok Sabha during the Winter Session on January 8, it is yet to introduce it in Rajya Sabha.

The legislation seeks to grant nationality to non-Muslims who have come into India up to December 31, 2014. There has been strong opposition to the bill in Assam and other Northeastern states.

The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) bill, which makes the practice of instant triple talaq (talaq-e-Biddat) a penal offence, is being opposed by Opposition parties, who claim that a jail term for a husband for divorcing his wife is legally untenable.

The government has promulgated the ordinance on triple talaq twice. Under the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Ordinance, 2019, divorcing through instant triple talaq will be illegal, void and would attract a jail term of three years for the husband.

A bill to convert the earlier ordinance, issued in September, 2018, was cleared by the Lok Sabha in December and was pending in the Rajya Sabha.

Since the bill could not get parliamentary approval, a fresh ordinance was issued.