Triple talaq bill to be tabled in Rajya Sabha today

A landmark bill that makes instant "triple talaq" a criminal offence, cleared by the Lok Sabha, is scheduled to be tabled in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.

The government on Tuesday shot down the Opposition's demand that the triple talaq bill is sent to a select committee of the Rajya Sabha but indicated that it might be open to accepting some of the amendments to the bill suggested by the Opposition.

The bill was passed with most of the leading parties in the Opposition, including the Congress party, voting in favour of the bill, but with caveats. It was passed after the House rejected a string of amendments moved by various Opposition members.

The bill may have been passed without any amendments in the lower house but a tougher numbers game in the upper house awaits the bill as the government lacks a majority and the opposition.

And if the Opposition insists on vetting the bill by a parliamentary panel, it will lead to delay and be passed only in the next session of parliament.

All the amendments moved by Asaduddin Owaisi, Biju Janata Dal's (BJD) Bhartruhari Mahtab, the Congress party's Sushmita Dev and the Communist Party of India's (Marxist) A. Sampath were negated in the Lower House of the Parliament.

The bill, if implemented into a law, will make Triple Talaq a criminal offense. It 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.

OneIndia News