Opposing the Triple Talaq bill in its current form, Congress MP Sushmita Dev said Thursday in the Lok Sabha that the real purpose of the bill was not empowering Muslims women but to "penalize" Muslim men
Demanding that the bill is referred to the United Selection Committee of Parliament, Dev said criminalization of triple talaq goes against the Supreme Court verdict.
"In the name of empowerment you (the government) has given you anything but a criminal case to women … The aim of the bill is not to empower Muslim women but to penalize Muslim men," she said.
The new Bill to make the practice of triple talaq in Muslim offense was introduced in the Lok Sabha on December 17th.
Under the proposed law, giving instant triple talaq will be illegal and void, and will attract a jail term of three years for the husband.
The new bill will supersede an earlier bill passed in the Lok Sabha and pending in the state Sabha.
The first bill was approved by the Lower House.
But amid opposition by some parties in the upper house, the government then cleared some amendments, including the introduction of a provision of bail, to make it more acceptable
However, as the bill continued to protest in the State Assembly, the government issued an ordinance in September, incorporating the amendments.
An ordinance is a life of six months. But from the day a session starts, it is to be replaced by a bill which should be passed by Parliament within 42 days (six weeks), else it lapses
The government is on liberty to re-promulgate the ordinance if the bill fails to get through Parliament.
Citing details of instant triple talaq cases, the government had last week informed the Lok Sabha that till now there were 430 incidents of triple tales in the country.
Of these, 229 were reported before the Supreme Court judgment, while another 201 came to the notice after it.
These cases were reported between the period of January 2017 and September 13, 2018.
