Opposition-BJP Spar Over Instant Triple Talaq Bill In Rajya Sabha

A united opposition today sparred with the government over the instant triple talaq bill in the Rajya Sabha, stalling a debate by insisting that it should be sent to a select panel.

Amid noisy scenes, Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad introduced the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill 2017 for discussion and passage, but pandemonium broke in the Upper House with the opposition's uproar and the BJP countering it vociferously.

The House, which met at 3 pm after witnessing three adjournments over the Maharashtra caste violence, also saw procedural wranglings from both sides.

The Lok Sabha had passed the bill on Dec. 28, which seeks to make instant triple talaq illegal with up to three years in jail for the husband. The government emphasised the need to pass the bill on an urgent basis citing a Supreme Court judgement pronouncing triple talaq unconstitutional. While broadly supporting the bill, the opposition party members especially those from the Congress, Trinamool Congress and Samajwadi Party, insisted that it be referred to a select panel for further scrutiny.

Prasad appealed for the expeditious passage of the “historic bill” citiing the Supreme Court ruling from August 22, 2017 which termed triple talaq unconstitutional. “The judges appealed to Parliament to come out with a law. Until then, it stopped the practice for six months,” he said.

Also Read: Activist Who Championed Instant Triple Talaq Ban Calls For Changes To Bill

The opposition remained adamant on its demand for setting up of a select committee, with Congress Deputy Leader Anand Sharma moving a resolution to this effect. Sharma gave a list of opposition members to be part of the proposed select committee and asked the ruling party to suggest names to the panel, which should give its report in the first week of the Union Budget session.

Dubbing Sharma's motion to set up a select committee as “invalid”, leader of the House Arun Jaitley objected to the procedure followed by him. Jaitley said that the Rule 70 (sub-rule 2a) cited by Sharma was not applicable here because the bill did not originate from the Upper House. It orginated in the Lok Sabha and was transmitted to the Rajya Sabha.The other objection Jaitley raised was that the notice for setting up of a select panel was not given before, thereby breaking parliamentary procedure.

Not only the names given for the proposed panel were proportionate to the strength of the parties represented in the House but the consent of these members was also not taken, he claimed.

Jaitley said that there is an urgent need to pass the bill to end the unlawful practice as the Supreme Court had suspended it for six months which expire in February. The government had to put in place a law before that to ensure that the ban stays.

Hitting out at Congress, Jaitley said, “The whole country is watching that in the other House you supported the bill and here you are trying to derail it”. He also sought a ruling from the chair on this matter.

Congress leader Kapil Sibal said the minister referred to a minority judgement of the Supreme Court on the issue while there was no mention of urgency in the majority judgement of the apex court.

As unruly scenes continued, the ruling party members including ministers were up on their feet and asked if it was wrong to give respect to women. Responding to them, Sharma said the Congress respects the women's rights and supports the bill. “We are not opposing, we are supporting it. We are not hypocrites. We want to ensure the bill goes through legislative scrutiny,” Sharma said. He also chided the ruling party for claiming to the champion of the women's cause but not bringing the women's reservation bill.

Watch this conversation with R Jagannathan, editorial director at Swarajya magazine on the fate of the instant triple talaq bill.