Congress leader Kapil Sibal on Wednesday said the party supported the proposed triple talaq bill, but opposed it only when it came to the criminalisation part.
"We are for this bill, as the Supreme Court deemed the practice as unconstitutional and that is what the bill says, and we agree with it. But when it comes to criminalisation, neither the minority nor the majority judgement [of the Supreme Court] mentioned it, which is what we opposed," Kapil Sibal told ANI here.
"One will realise the motive behind the bill, especially the criminalisation aspect of the bill, if he goes into the detail," he added.
A united opposition on Wednesday had a face-off with the government over the triple talaq bill in the Rajya Sabha and stalled a debate on it insisting that it should be sent to a select panel, as the ruling BJP strongly sought its expeditious passage to stop the unlawful practice.
the opposition remained adamant on its demand for setting up of a select committee, with Congress Deputy Leader Anand Sharma moving a resolution to this effect.
Sharma gave a list of opposition members to be part of the proposed select committee and asked the ruling party to suggest its names to the panel, which should give its report in the first week of the Budget Session.
Besides Congress, SP and TMC, the names proposed by Sharma for the panel included leaders of AIADMK, BSP, DMK, NCP, CPI, CPI(M), TDP, RJD, BJD, JMM, IUML and nominated member KTS Tulsi.
The Congress leader, along with Derek O'Brien (TMC), also insisted that the resolution on sending the bill to a select panel be put to vote in the House and a division was sought.
OneIndia News
