Expressing its serious reservations over the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill passed by the Lok Sabha on Thursday the All India Muslim personal law board has said that the board may approach the Supreme Court against the triple talaq bill once it is passed by the Rajya Sabha and the bill becomes the law.
“The AIMPLB will take steps through democratic means to amend, improve or scrap. The board may approach the Supreme Court against the triple talaq bill once it is passed by the Rajya Sabha’’, said Zafaryab Jilani, the secretary of the board. The All India Shia muslim personal law Board, meanwhile, called for making the punishment to those indulging in ‘triple talaq more stringent.
“An option is always open to challenge the law passed by the Parliament, in the apex court which is against the Supreme Court’s judgment and the Indian Constitution. Convener of our legal committee has also suggested that it can be challenged in the court. However, we will decide our future course of action once the Bill is passed and law is enacted,” Jilani said.
“We will take whatever steps required through democratic means for scrapping of the proposed law. The bill was introduced with undue haste in parliament without consulting the stake holders. The board should have been taken into confidence by the government before rushing to Lok Sabha with the bill “AIMPLB spokesperson Maulana Khalil-ur-Rehman Sajjad Nomani said here on Friday.
“Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad while tabling the bill in parliament also quoted the board and a women MP of the ruling party tried to answer the queries raised by the Board in a letter to the Prime Minister proving that the government recognises the board. So the board should have been taken into confidence,” Nomani said.
Maulana Nomani said the AIMPLB wanted the triple talaq bill to not be in conflict with either the Constitution, Supreme Court order or the Muslim Personal Law Board.
“We had demanded that Bill should have been prepared only after consultation of representatives of Muslim women organisations, All India Muslim Personal Board, but it doesn’t mean that we were against the Bill. We only wanted that Bill should not be in conflict with Constitution of India, Supreme Court Judgment or Muslim Personal Law Board,” he said.
The president of the All India Muslim Women Personal Law Board Shaista Amber welcomed the passage of the bill by the Lok Sabha. “We welcome the passage of the bill and this has given lots of hope to the women as triple talaq is an evil which has been haunting the muslim women for long” she said. She however, added that ``any law enacted in this regard should be in the light of the Quran and Constitution to make it acceptable to the community’’.
Maulana Yasoob Abbas of the All India Shia personal law board said that he has sent a letter to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi for making the punishment to those indulging in the practice more stringent. “I have urged the Prime Minister through a letter that a jail term of 10 years to those indulging in triple talaq and lodging a criminal case against them,” Yasoob Abbas said.