President Ram Nath Kovind on Wednesday approved the Muslim Women Bill, popularly known as Triple Talaq Bill, a day after it was passed by the Upper House of the parliament, Rajya Sabha, on Tuesday. The Bill sought to criminalize the instant ‘triple talaq’ and to protect the rights of the married women by prohibiting the practice.
The new Bill will deem the practice ‘illegal’, with the husband supposedly facing a prison sentence of three years. With this, the bill has now become a law.
Ram Nath Kovind, soon after Rajya Sabha passed the bill, had tweeted, ‘Passage in the Rajya Sabha of Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill completes Parliament’s approval of ban on the inequitable practice of triple talaq. A milestone in the quest for gender justice; a moment of satisfaction for the entire country’.
Passage in the Rajya Sabha of Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill completes Parliament's approval of ban on the inequitable practice of triple talaq. A milestone in the quest for gender justice; a moment of satisfaction for the entire country #PresidentKovind
— President of India (@rashtrapatibhvn) July 30, 2019
The Bill was passed by Rajya Sabha on Tuesday with 99 members voting in favor and 84 members voted against the bill in the final division.
The bill was passed amid the uproar from the Opposition demanding to send the bill to select committee. The Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA government, which does not have a clear majority in the Rajya Sabha, managed to push the bill after parties like AIADMK and JD-U staged a walkout. AIADMK has 11 MPs in Rajya Sabha, while JD-U has 6. Naveen Patnaik‘s Biju Janata Dal (BJD) supported the bill.
In the meantime, at least 5 from Congress, some MPs from parties like Samajwadi Party, Trinamool Congress, BSP, TRS, and YSRCP also abstain from the voting on the bill. NCP President Sharad Pawar and Praful Patel, and Jharna Das Baidya of CPI-M were also absent from the house during voting on the bill.
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