21 Jun, 16:18 (IST)

YSR Congress MP Vijayasai Reddy has demanded a law to be passed by the House which would mandate a reservation of 50 per cent in legislatures for candidates belonging to the Other Backward Classes (OBC).

21 Jun, 14:36 (IST)

AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi termed Triple Talaq Bill as unconstitutional. Talking to media, he said, "Triple Talaq bill is unconstitutional. It's a violation of Constitution's Article 14 & 15. We already have Domestic Violence Act 2005, CrPC Section 125, Muslim Women Marriage Act." He further added that if the bill becomes law then it would be a greater injustice against Muslim women.

21 Jun, 13:52 (IST)

The Triple Talaq Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha following a division of votes. While 74 MPs opposed the tabling of the legislation before the House, 186 lawmakers voted in favour of introducing it for passage.

21 Jun, 13:02 (IST)

The Lok Sabha MPs are set to vote on the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2019 tabled in the Lower House by Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad. The legislation has been opposed by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor and AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi.

21 Jun, 12:57 (IST)

Retorting to the apprehensions raised by MPs Asaduddin Owaisi and Shashi Tharoor over the Triple Talaq Bill, Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the government is not targeting the Muslim community through the legislation."Rights of Muslim women will be protected. It is about justice and empowerment of women," he said, appealing the Opposition to support the law.

21 Jun, 12:40 (IST)

AIMIM chief and Hyderabad lawmaker Asaduddin Owaisi, along with Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, intervened in the debate over Triple Talaq law to opposed the government-proposed legislation. While Tharoor has questioned the stringent no bail provision of the law, Owaisi asked the Centre to explain why the Bill discriminates between Hindu and Muslim husbands.While a Hindu gets 1 year in jail for illegally divorcing his wife, a Muslim man would be sentenced to 3 years for practicing talaq-e-bidat or instant triple divorce. "Isn't it violative of Article 14 and Article 15 of the Constitution," Owaisi asked the Speaker.

21 Jun, 12:32 (IST)

The Triple Talaq Bill has been tabled in the Lok Sabha by Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad. The legislation has been opposed by the Congress, with party lawmaker Shashi Tharoor telling the House that its "real purpose" is to only target Muslim men.

21 Jun, 11:17 (IST)

The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2019, which will outlaw the practice of triple talaq or instant divorce, will be tabled in Lok sabha today.

New Delhi, June 21: On Day 5 of the ongoing Monsoon Session 2019 in the Parliament, the government is set to introduce a fresh Bill to outlaw the practice of "triple talaq" or instant divorce. The proposed legislation will be taken up for discussion today in the Lok Sabha. Stay tuned here for the live news and updates from both Houses of the Parliament.

The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2019, which has been listed in the Lok Sabha's agenda for Friday, will replace an ordinance issued in February by the previous BJP-led NDA government. 'Triple Talaq Banned By 20 Islamic Countries, Why Can't Secular India Do It'

With the dissolution of the 16th Lok Sabha last month, the previous bill had lapsed as it was pending in the Rajya Sabha.

The Bill, which proposes to make the practice of instant triple talaq (talaq-e-biddat) a penal offence, had faced objections from the opposition parties which claimed that jail term for a man for divorcing his wife was legally untenable. The new bill is a copy of the ordinance in force.

Bills that are introduced in the Rajya Sabha and are pending there do not lapse with the dissolution of the Lok Sabha. However, bills passed by the Lok Sabha and pending in the Rajya Sabha lapse with the dissolution of the lower house.

The government had promulgated the ordinance on triple talaq twice -- in September 2018 and in February 2019 -- as the contentious bill remained pending in the Rajya Sabha, though it was passed by the Lok Sabha.

Under the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Ordinance, 2019, divorcing through instant triple talaq is illegal, void and will attract a jail term of three years for the husband.

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.

In the first session of the 17th Lok Sabha, the new government plans to convert 10 ordinances, including the one to ban the practice of instant triple talaq, into law.

The ordinances were issued in February-March this year by the previous government as these could not be converted into Acts of Parliament in the last session of the 16th Lok Sabha.

Since the Narendra Modi government returned to power in the recently held elections, it has decided to give a fresh push to these proposed laws in the newly-constituted Lok Sabha.

These ordinances will have to be converted into laws within 45 days of the beginning of the session, else they will lapse.

(With PTI inputs)