New Delhi, June 12: In a major development, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved a fresh bill to ban the practice of triple talaq, which, will replace an ordinance issued earlier this year. With the dissolution of 16th Lok Sabha after general elections, the bill had lapsed as it could not be passed by Parliament and was pending in Rajya Sabha.

Union minister Prakash Javadekar in a press briefing said that the new bill will be introduced in the first session of the 17th Lok Sabha which will begin on June 17. Citizenship Amendment, Triple Talaq Bills Lapse After Dissolution of 16th Lok Sabha.

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The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) bill which made the practice of triple talaq (talaq-e-biddat) a penal offence, was opposed by the opposition which had claimed that prison term for the husband for divorcing his wife is legally flawed.

The government had promulgated the ordinance on triple talaq twice. Under the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Ordinance, 2019, divorcing through instant triple talaq will be unlawful, void and would attract a jail term of three years for the husband

A Bill to convert the earlier ordinance, issued in September 2018, was cleared by the Lok Sabha in December and was pending in the Rajya Sabha. Since the Bill could not get parliamentary approval, a fresh ordinance was issued.

Seeking to allay fears that the proposed law could be misused, the government has included certain safeguards in it such as adding a provision for bail for the accused during trial.

These amendments were cleared by the Cabinet on August 29, 2018. While the ordinance makes it a "non-bailable" offence, an accused can approach a magistrate even before trial to seek bail.

In a non-bailable offence, bail cannot be granted by police at the police station itself. A provision was added to allow the magistrate to grant bail "after hearing the wife", the government had said.

(with PTI inputs)

 

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 12, 2019 07:56 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).