Jahangir's World Times First Comprehensive Magazine for students/teachers of competitive exams and general readers as well.
INSTANT TRIPLE TALAQ
IS CRIMINAL IN INDIA
Rajya Sabha, on July 30, passed the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, outlawing Triple Talaq. The bill was tabled in the upper house for debate and passage by Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad. The bill, which criminalises the practice of instant divorce the Muslim community, has already been passed by the Lok Sabha.
REPORTED CASES OF INSTANT TRIPLE:
543 CASES since 2017
229 CASES after the Supreme Court ruling the practice illegal in 2017
31 CASES post Union Cabinet ordinance making instant triple talaq a punishable offence
THE JOURNEY SO FAR:
February 5, 2016: Supreme Court asks then Attorney General Mukul Rohotgi for assistance on appeals challenging constitutional validity of “Triple Talaq.”
June 29, 2016: The Supreme Court assures that the practice of “triple talaq” among Muslims will be tested on the “touchstone of constitutional framework.”
October 7, 2016: The Centre opposes the practice of triple talaq in Supreme Court and said there is a need to re-look at these practices on grounds of gender equality and secularism.
December 9, 2016: The Allahabad High Court, in a verdict, stopped short of calling the practice of triple talaq under Muslim law unconstitutional but observed that personal laws could not override constitutionally guaranteed rights of individuals.
February 16, 2017: The Supreme Court announces the setting up of a five-judge
constitutional bench to hear and deliberate on the challenges against the practice of ‘triple talaq, nikah halala’ and polygamy.
March 27, 2017: The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) told the Supreme Court that the issue of triple talaq falls outside the judiciary’s realm and that these issues should not be touched by court.
April 11,2017: The Centre tells the Supreme Court the practices in question deny Muslim women the fundamental rights which were guaranteed to them by the Indian constitution.
April 18, 2017: Attorney general Mukul Rohatgi said practice of triple talaq should not be allowed as women have as much right as men and cannot be treated on a lower pedestal.
May 3, 2017: Top court permits senior lawyer and Congress leader Salman Khurshid as amicus curiae to hear challenging constitutional validity of Triple Talaq.
May 18, 2017: Apex court reserves its verdict on a number of appeals challenging
constitutional validity of instant Triple Talaq practices.
August 22, 2017: After reading separate judgements, SC rules in 3:2 majority
that the practice is illegal. It also asks Centre to frame a law.
December 2017: The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2017 was passed in the Lok Sabha which made triple talaq a aunishable offence with a jail term of up to three years.
Between January and August 2018: Parliament sessions were a washout because of which the Bill was not tabled in Parliament.
August 9, 2018: The Union Cabinet clears the amendments to the bill, which includes the provision of granting bail to the men found guilty of giving instant triple talaq. Also, the complaints in a triple talaq case can be filed only by the victim (wife) or a bleed relative. The magistrate is given the power to grant bail with
certain terms and conditions.
August 10, 2018: The Bill is presented in the Rajya Sabha during the monsoon session of Parliament but the government is unable to pass the Bill citing lack of consensus in the House. The bill is postponed to the Winter Session of Parliament.
August 15, 2018: PM Narendra Modi in his Independence Day speech blamed the
Opposition for the delay in the passage of the triple talaq bill in the Upper House.
September 19, 2018: The Narendra Modi-led Union Cabinet approves an ordinance making instant triple talaq a punishable offence with a three-year jail term.
December 31, 2018: Opposition stalls the bill in Rajya Sabha, days after it was passed in the Upper House. The Opposition demanded that the bill be scrutinised by the select panel.
June 20, 2019: president Ram Nath Kovind addresses joint session of Parliament, calls upon all parties to unite in getting legislation making Triple Talaq a punishable offence cleared.
President says practices like triple talaq and nikah halala must goin the interest of equal rights to women.
June 21, 2019: Government tables The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on
Marriage) Bill, 2019 in Lok Sabha.
July 25, 2019: The Muslim Women (protection of Rights on marriage) Bill, 2019 passed In Lok Sabha.
July 30, 2019: Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, passes in Rajya Sabha.
