The Rajya Sabha on Tuesday passed a contentious bill that makes instant triple talaq a criminal offence and provides for a jail term to a Muslim man for the crime. The upper house passed the bill by 99 votes in favour and 84 against it.
While the BJD supported the government, the AIADMK and the JD(U), allies of the ruling BJP, staged a walk out and the TRS abstained from voting. Several lawmakers from the Congress, the Samajwadi Party and the NCP were also absent from the house.
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Earlier, the house rejected an opposition-sponsored motion to send the triple talaq bill to a select panel by 100-84 votes. The ruling NDA has 107 members in the 242-member Rajya Sabha.
“An archaic and medieval practice has finally been confined to the dustbin of history!,” tweeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi, soon after the passage of the bill.
“Parliament abolishes Triple Talaq and corrects a historical wrong done to Muslim women. This is a victory of gender justice and will further equality in society. India rejoices today!,” he said.
Modi also thanked all parties and MPs who have supported the passage of the bill in both houses of the parliament.
Moving the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2019 in the Rajya Sabha, Law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the proposed legislation should be not seen through a political prism or vote bank politics, as it aims at ensuring gender dignity, justice and equality.
"This issue should not be seen through a political prism or votebank politics. This is a question of humanity. This is for ensuring justice to women, dignity and empowerment to women and to ensure gender dignity and equality," he said.
He said more than 20 Islamic countries have regulated triple talaq in various forms. "India is a secular country, but unfortunately for one reason or the other it could not happen," he said.
Urging members to approve the bill, Prasad said the practice of triple talaq is continuing despite the Supreme Court banning the same through its judgement.
The government had thought that this illegal practice would stop after the apex court judgement banning instant triple talaq but it did not, he said.
As many as 574 cases of the illegal practice were reported after the SC judgement and 101 cases have come to light after the last ordinance issued by the government criminalising the practice, he said.
The Bill was passed by Lok Sabha last week. Once granted assent by the president, the bill will replace an ordinance promulgated last on February 21.
The ordinance and the triple talaq bill follow a Supreme Court verdict of 2017 declaring instant triple talaq as unconstitutional.