The Narendra Modi government on Wednesday cleared an ordinance that makes the practice of instant triple talaq a cognisable offence, a move that is politically significant and designed to mount pressure on the opposition, especially the Congress.
The Union cabinet cleared the ordinance, with Law and Justice Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad saying that the move was necessitated as cases of triple talaq were happening unabated despite the Supreme Court's judgment declaring the practice as unconstitutional.
“As many as 430 cases of triple talaq have come to our notice between January 2017 and September 2018. Of these 201 were reported after the Supreme Court's judgment,” Prasad said. This, he said, explained the urgency for the ordinance. “These are cases which we came to know about from various sources. There could be many more cases which have not been reported. Hence, there was a compelling need, an overpowering urgency to come with an ordinance,” the minister said.
Prasad said the ordinance was required as victims of triple talaq, when they approached police station, were told that there is no law under which they could be helped.
The political subtext of the development was evident as Prasad hit out at the opposition, especially the Congress, for not allowing the triple talaq Bill to be passed by Parliament. He attacked Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, accusing her of blocking the bill because of vote bank politics. “I am making this charge with full sense of responsibility that the distinguished woman leader, who is the ultimate leader of the Congress party, did not allow the Bill to stop the barbaric inhuman practice to be passed by Parliament for pure vote bank politics,” he said.
The minister claimed that he approached senior Congress leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad and Anand Sharma regarding passage of the bill in the Rajya Sabha, but in vain. “I urged them five times to agree to passing the bill. They kept telling us that they would discuss the issue with the party leadership and get back to us,” he said.
Prasad said he wanted to again appeal to Sonia Gandhi as well as BSP supremo Mayawati and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee for their support in passing the bill in Parliament.
“If they are serious and earnest, let them say that when Parliament commences, they will support the bill. We are consciously keeping this bill away from political divide. It is only meant for gender justice,” he said.
Reacting to the ordinance, the Congress said it was brought about for political reasons. “The government has not done this with the intention of providing justice to Muslim women. It has been done purely for political reasons,” said Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala.
The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights of Marriage) Bill 2017, which makes instant triple talaq a cognisable, non-bailable offence and provides for up to three years in jail for the husband, was passed by the Lok Sabha, but is stuck in the Rajya Sabha, where the opposition has a substantial presence.
However, the government introduced amendments in the proposed law, which will also be part of the ordinance, to soften the opposition to it. Now, the crime will be cognisable only when the woman victim herself or a blood relation or a relation by marriage makes a complaint. It can be compoundable at the wife's initiative, and under appropriate terms and conditions determined by the magistrate. Also, the magistrate can grant bail on reasonable grounds. Custody of minor children will be with the wife and she and her children will be entitled for a maintenance from the husband as decided by the magistrate.
