The Union Cabinet approved an ordinance making triple talaq a criminal offence on Wednesday. Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad made the announcement the cabinet meeting.
NEW DELHI: The Union Cabinet on September 19, 2018 approved an ordinance making instant triple talaq a punishable offence. The clearance by the Union Cabinet takes the bill a step closer to becoming a law.
The ordinance has similar provisions as mentioned in original the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill 2017, which was cleared by the Lok Sabha in December 2017. However, the bill was stuck in the Rajya Sabha.
In August 2017, the Supreme Court in a landmark verdict had held that the practice of triple talaq violates the Constitutional rights of Muslim women.
After the Supreme Court verdict, the Modi government decided to introduce a bill to criminalise the practice. The bill was passed by the Lok Sabha in December last year.
Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said a law was needed as triple talaq persisted despite the Supreme Court’s ban last year.
Reacting over the development, senior Congress leader Randeep Surjewala accused the Modi government of playing politics over such a sensitive issue.
“Modi government is not doing this for justice for Muslim women, but making this into a political issue,” Surjewala said.
The Union Minister further stated, ” The core component of this Ordinance is that an offence will be cognizable only when the FIR is filed by the victim wife or her close relations by blood or marriage”.
Provision of bail was one of the demands of the Opposition parties had been demanded. The Government amended the bill last month to grant magistrate the powers to order bail after hearing the wife.
Prasad said the mother/victim wife must get the custody of the minor child and the mother is entitled to a maintenance suitably determined by the magistrate for herself and the child.
