Triple Talaq: All you need to know

Today in Parliament, a new bill to make the instant Muslim divorce or ‘Triple Talaq’ illegal was presented on the floor of the house by Law and Justice Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.

President Ram Nath Kovind on Thursday in his address to the joint session of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha spoke on the issue of women empowerment and urged all the legislators to support the abolishing practices such as Triple Talaq.

The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on marriage) Bill of 2019 will replace the ordinance that the previous BJP-led National Democratic Alliance passed in February.

With the dissolution of the 16th Lok Sabha, the previous bill had lapsed as it was held up in the Rajya Sabha.

Triple Talaq, which is instant divorce, is a customary practice among the Muslim community. According to this, a husband can dissolve the marriage by saying ‘Talaq’ three times. This custom is faced with strong opposition for being biased against women and regressive in nature. It is banned in 22 countries. The Muslim Law Board in defence of Triple Talaq said that it is a personal law which cannot be modified by the Central Government.

In December of 2017, during the winter session of Parliament, Lok Sabha had passed the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on marriage) Bill. The bill declared Triple Talaq as void and illegal. It is a non-bailable offence with up to three years of jail time. It also provides for the payment of allowance to the Muslim woman and dependent children. The new bill is a copy of the ordinance in force.

This bill failed to be passed in the Rajya Sabha because of opposition parties who were in majority. The opposition parties wanted it to be vetted by a select committee of Parliament. This was rejected by the government.

The Opposition was fearful of provisions such as jail time which might lead to the victimisation of Muslim men. The government's argument was that the bill will put an end to the victimisation of women. In spite of addressing fears of misuse of the proposed bill, the government added safeguards such as provision of bail during trail, the bill failed to be passed.

The BJP-led NDA government plans to pass the bill on the ban of Triple Talaq in the first session of the Lok Sabha.