Will request PM to withhold Triple Talaq Bill: AIMPLB

Asserting that the government should go ahead with the Triple Talaq Bill only after holding discussions with senior clerics, All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) on Sunday said it would request Prime Minister Narendra Modi to withhold the bill for time being.

AIMPLB's Sajjad Nomani told the media that no procedure was followed while drafting the bill.

"No procedure was followed in drafting this bill, neither any stakeholder was consulted. President of AIMPLB will convey this stand to PM and request him to withhold and withdraw the bill," he said.

The central government is expected to table the bill to criminalise the practice of instant triple talaq in the Lok Sabha next week.

A Times of India report quoted Secretary of the board, Maulana Khalid Saifullah Rahmani, as saying that the board is also against instant triple talaq, but is not satisfied with its current structure.

Rahmani also raised the issue of maintenance to be paid to women after divorce.

"The bill is against women in the sense that courts talk of maintenance for women and the children by the husband after the divorce but this is in contradiction of the three-year jail term proposed in the bill. How will there be maintenance provided for the wife when the husband is in jail?" said Rahmani.

AIMPLB held an emergency meeting to oppose the proposed bill banning instant triple talaq on Sunday. The new bill, know as The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill 2017, outlaws the Islamic divorce practice and hands out a three-year jail sentence as well as a fine, and states that the offence would be cognisable and non-bailable.

The Supreme Court had in August, by a majority of 3:2, ruled that the practice of divorce through instant triple talaq among Muslims is "void", "illegal" and "unconstitutional".

OneIndia News