Union Cabinet approves changes in Triple Talaq bill; provision of bail added
NEW DELHI: Aiming to get the Opposition parties on board, the Union Cabinet on Thursday gave nod to changes in the legislative proposal against the practice of triple talaq by providing for the grant of bail by a magistrate against the accused.
The Muslim Women (Protection of rights on marriage) bill, 2017, which has already been passed by the Lok Sabha, is awaiting the nod of the Rajya Sabha where the ruling NDA is short of the halfway mark to push a legislative bill on its own.
The Opposition parties had contested the provision of no bail for offences in the practice instant talaq. The government having got the backing of the Opposition parties by accepting key demands on the legislative proposal granting the Constitutional status to the backward commission is confident that the Rajya Sabha would now give its nod to the bill prohibiting the practice of triple talaq.
In another change, the Cabinet has approved the amendment that only a woman or her family members could lodge a complaint against a husband for practising instant talaq. Besides, there would be scope for a compromise between the two parties.
However, only a magistrate would be able to grant bail to an offender. The BJP has been raising the issue of the Opposition, including the Congress, opposing the triple talaq bill. Union Minister for Law and Justice Ravi Shankar Prasad had also written a letter to the Congress president Rahul Gandhi to demand that the party support the passage of the triple talaq bill on the grounds of gender equality.
The government is likely to push for the passage of the triple talaq bill at the earliest even while the Monsoon session of Parliament is set to conclude on Friday.