Triple talaq bill listed for today in Rajya Sabha; Congress keeps government guessing
, ET Bureau|
Updated: Jan 02, 2018, 09.31 AM IST
The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2017, cleared by the Lok Sabha, is scheduled to come up in the Upper House on Tuesday, but the Opposition is likely to prevail upon the government to send it to a select committee on the grounds that the opinion of various community bodies and NGOs have not been taken while drafting the legislation.
As per the Rajya Sabha's list of business, the instant talaq Bill should be taken up by the House on Tuesday. Government sources said the Treasury Benches will try its best to get the Bill discussed and put to vote on Tuesday itself. However, with the numbers not favouring the government in the Rajya Sabha, it would be difficult to "bulldoze" the Bill through as was done last Thursday in the Lok Sabha. Government got the Bill passed with a voice vote.
Sources said main Opposition, Congress, is still keeping the government guessing on whether it will just demand on the floor of the House that the Bill be sent to a select committee of the Rajya Sabha and not press for it, or insist that it be sent to the panel. In the Lok Sabha, Leader of the Congress, Mallikarjun Kharge, had just made this suggestion but didn't press further as the Opposition is hugely outnumbered.
Congress is supporting the ban on instant talaq but has issues with the provision that makes it a penal offence, with a sentence of up to three years and fine. The Left parties (CPM and CPI), SP, BSP, NCP, RJD and a host of other parties have issues with the Bill in its present form. TMC, which is opposed to a ban on instant talaq, did not participate in the discussion in the Lok Sabha.
The Opposition has argued that the penal offence will remove all hopes of reconciliation as a man sent to jail will not agree to any arbitration. Imprisonment of the man will also lead to taunts and embarrassment for the children in the family. A man in jail is not likely to be in a position to pay the subsistence allowance that the Bill envisages.
There are suggestions that the government should create a corpus for paying the subsistence allowance to the victim. In the Shah Bano case, the government had overturned the court order giving ₹127 as monthly allowance to the 60-year-old woman.
BJP leaders feel the party gains both in getting the Bill passed on the same day — as it can then take credit for getting the landmark legislation passed that would win it some support from aggrieved Muslim women — and in it being sent to a select committee, as then the ruling party would go to town alleging Congress and others have delayed the Bill. The Opposition argument is that it is only trying to prevent the new law from being draconian and liable to misuse.
As per the Rajya Sabha's list of business, the instant talaq Bill should be taken up by the House on Tuesday. Government sources said the Treasury Benches will try its best to get the Bill discussed and put to vote on Tuesday itself. However, with the numbers not favouring the government in the Rajya Sabha, it would be difficult to "bulldoze" the Bill through as was done last Thursday in the Lok Sabha. Government got the Bill passed with a voice vote.
Sources said main Opposition, Congress, is still keeping the government guessing on whether it will just demand on the floor of the House that the Bill be sent to a select committee of the Rajya Sabha and not press for it, or insist that it be sent to the panel. In the Lok Sabha, Leader of the Congress, Mallikarjun Kharge, had just made this suggestion but didn't press further as the Opposition is hugely outnumbered.
Congress is supporting the ban on instant talaq but has issues with the provision that makes it a penal offence, with a sentence of up to three years and fine. The Left parties (CPM and CPI), SP, BSP, NCP, RJD and a host of other parties have issues with the Bill in its present form. TMC, which is opposed to a ban on instant talaq, did not participate in the discussion in the Lok Sabha.
The Opposition has argued that the penal offence will remove all hopes of reconciliation as a man sent to jail will not agree to any arbitration. Imprisonment of the man will also lead to taunts and embarrassment for the children in the family. A man in jail is not likely to be in a position to pay the subsistence allowance that the Bill envisages.
There are suggestions that the government should create a corpus for paying the subsistence allowance to the victim. In the Shah Bano case, the government had overturned the court order giving ₹127 as monthly allowance to the 60-year-old woman.
BJP leaders feel the party gains both in getting the Bill passed on the same day — as it can then take credit for getting the landmark legislation passed that would win it some support from aggrieved Muslim women — and in it being sent to a select committee, as then the ruling party would go to town alleging Congress and others have delayed the Bill. The Opposition argument is that it is only trying to prevent the new law from being draconian and liable to misuse.
