New Delhi: Rajya Sabha has been adjourned till January 2, 2019, Wednesday after uproar over the triple talaq bill which was passed in the Lok Sabha last week.
The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill that was passed by the Lok Sabha on Thursday amid a walkout by the opposition was tabled in the Rajya Sabha today.
The revised bill makes triple talaq an offence with a jail term of up to three years and a fine for the husband, and makes the woman entitled to maintenance.
Law and Justice Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Friday had claimed the bill
will find support in the Rajya Sabha, where the BJP-led NDA lacks numbers. On
the other hand, the main opposition Congress had said it will not allow passing
of the bill in its present form.
The Opposition has demanded that the bill be sent to a joint select panel for
review before it is passed by the Parliament. The bill was passed in the Lok
Sabha on Thursday with 245 voting in favour and 11 opposing it amid a walkout
by the Congress, NCP and others.
In September, the government made instant Triple Talaq punishable through an ordinance or executive order. The proposed law is expected to replace the ordinance.
In August last year, the Supreme Court found the practice of instant Triple Talaq un-Islamic and “arbitrary”, and disagreed that it was an integral part of Islamic religious practice.