Cabinet clears ordinance to make triple talaq an offence

New Delhi: The Union cabinet has cleared an ordinance to make the practice of instant triple talaq a penal offence, Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said Wednesday, citing compelling necessity for the move as the practice annulled by the Supreme Court continues unabated.

Addressing a press conference, he accused the Congress party of not cooperating in the passage of the 'Muslim Women Protection of Rights on Marriage Bill, pending in the Rajya Sabha, because of vote bank politics.

Citing details of the ordinance, he said a woman or her blood relative will have to file a case before a police station to make the offence cognizable.

“The offence is compoundable. A compromise can also be reached before a magistrate after the affected woman consents to it,” he said.

"It is my serious charge that despite having a woman leading the Congress, they did not lend support to the bill," he told reporters.

'Barbaric and inhuman'

Describing the practice as 'barbaric and inhuman,' he said nearly 22 countries have regulated triple talaq. However, gender justice was given a complete go-by in a secular country like India because of blatant vote-bank politics.

"I will again appeal to (Congress leader) Sonia ji that this ordinance has been brought in the interest of the country to bring gender justice. I appeal to you to rise above vote-bank politics and help pass it in the interest of justice for women," he told reporters after the Cabinet meeting.

The Union minister also appealed to Bahujan Samaj Party leader Mayawati and Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee to help in the passage of the bill pending in Rajya Sabha, where the government lacks numbers. The Lok Sabha has already passed the bill.

The Supreme Court last year banned the practice. But since the practice was still prevalent, a bill was brought to make it a penal offence.

The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2017, which prohibits divorce by pronouncing instant talaq, or talaq-e-biddat, was passed in Lok Sabha in December 2017 with most of the leading parties in the opposition, including the Congress, voting in favour of the bill.

The bill allows the victim to approach a magistrate to seek 'subsistence allowance' for herself and minor children. All kinds of instant triple talaq - spoken, in writing or by electronic means, such email, text message or WhatsApp - would be illegal and void.