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Government may revive triple talaq ordinance if Opposition stalls bill in Rajya Sabha
The government had earlier been forced to issue an ordinance to criminalise the practice of triple talaq in September 2018 after failing to have an earlier version of the bill passed in Rajya Sabha. The revised bill includes bail provisions as part of attempts to soften some aspects of the proposed law.
The government will try to push the bill to criminalise the practice of instant divorce among a section of Muslims over the two remaining days of Parliament’s winter session, which ends on January 8. It is also open to reintroducing an ordinance or an executive order to criminalise the practice if the legislation is not passed, according to ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) functionaries.
A united Opposition on Monday last thwarted the government’s attempt to push the bill in Parliament’s upper House or Rajya Sabha. Lok Sabha or the lower House earlier passed the bill on December 28.
The government had earlier been forced to issue an ordinance to criminalise the practice in September 2018 after failing to have an earlier version of the bill passed in Rajya Sabha. The revised bill includes bail provisions as part of attempts to soften some aspects of the proposed law.
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor had last month opposed the introduction of the fresh bill saying “it has no procedural safeguards to prevent its misuse”. He added the bill “conflates civil law with criminal law by criminalising a wrong form of divorce and by criminalising an act which is already legally null and void”. The apex court banned the instant divorce practice in August 2017.
Parliamentary affairs minister Narendra Singh Tomar told HT on Sunday that the government will focus on the bill to criminalise the instant divorce along with two others to replace three existing ordinances. He appealed to the Opposition help pass the bill to criminalise instant divorce.
The Opposition wants a joint select panel to review the divorce bill. Tomar pointed out that the bill has been amended to address the concerns of different members. “During the debate in Lok Sabha in 2017, some members raised important points and thereafter the bill was amended. While it is a tradition to send bills for review by committees, such a reference is not a mandatory requirement for passing bills,’’ he said. “The House is supreme and much more important than a committee. We have debated it twice in Lok Sabha.”
Derek O’Brien, Trinamool Congress’s parliamentary party leader in Rajya Sabha, said panels scrutinise bill. “With all respect, he [Tomar] is a trainee minister. Bills are scrutinised in Parliamentary committees, not on the floor of the House. Earlier governments sent 65-70% of bills for scrutiny. The figure for this government? A dismal 20%”
The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2018, provides for three-year imprisonment and fine for any Muslim man, who abandons his wife through instance divorce.
The government has made little headway in the Upper House on the revised bill in the face of the opposition from the Congress and a large number of Opposition parties, which enjoy a cumulative majority in Rajya Sabha.
BJP functionaries indicated on Sunday that the Centre may explore the option to bring another ordinance to keep the law alive if the bill fails to go through in Rajya Sabha. “...the Rajya Sabha may be prorogued after Tuesday,” said a BJP functionary requesting anonymity.
An ordinance lapses unless it is converted into legislation within 42 days of commencement of a Parliament session.
The government may also table the National Register of Citizens report in Parliament. The draft report, published in July, had left out 40 lakh people in Assam. The other two bills to replace related ordinances include the Indian Medical Council (Amendment), Bill. It proposes to allow a board of governors to exercise the council’s powers.
