Winter Session: Triple Talaq Bill tabled in Lok Sabha

New Delhi, Dec 17: The BJP-led government on Monday tabled the Triple Talaq Bill, which needs legislative approval after being promulgated as an ordinance in September, in the Lok Sabha. The Union government had promulgated the ordinance after failing to get the bill passed in Rajya Sabha during Monsoon session this year.

Amid ruckus over the Rafale issue, Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad introduced the Triple Talaq Bill. Congress member Shashi Tharoor opposed the bill claiming it is targetted at a particular religion and hence unconstitutional.

The uproar in the Lok Sabha continued over the rafale issue and the Lower House was then adjourned till 2 pm today.

The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2018 seeks to make the practice of instant triple talaq a penal offence.

On September 19, the Union Cabinet had passed the ordinance to amend provisions of the Triple Talaq Bill. It was later signed by President Ram Nath Kovind.

In August 2017, a five-judge constitution bench had set aside the centuries-old practice of instant triple talaq or talaq-e-biddat, through which Muslim men divorce their wives by uttering "talaq" three times in quick succession. The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights of Marriage) Ordinance 2018 states that instant triple talaq has been made illegal and void, and will attract a jail term of three years for the husband. To prevent any misuse of the law, the government had also included certain safeguards, such as a provision of bail for the accused before trial.