Wishesh magazine february 2018 Wishesh magazine february 2018 | Page 101

decide on the amount of this
allowance keeping in view the
husband’s income.
Law Minister Ravi Shankar
Prasad said the jail term
had been incorporated
in the provision because
cases of instant divorce by
Muslim men continued to
be reported  despite the top
court’s ban.
Under the proposed law,
“any pronouncement of Talaq”
by a person - either spoken,
written, in electronic form or in
any other manner whatsoever
- shall be void and illegal. It
also seeks to punish a Muslim
man, who attempts to divorce
his wife using “Triple Talaq”,
by jail for a maximum of three
years and a fine.
But unlike most other
criminal offenses that come
with a three year sentence,
the bill makes the offence
cognizable. This means that a
Muslim woman will not need
to approach a court but the
police which can straightaway
arrest the man without a
warrant. Also, the offence has
been made a non-bailable
offence which implies only
the court - and not the police -
can release the man on bail.
The bill also entitles
women, upon whom Talaq
is pronounced, the custody
of her minor children. The
woman can also seek a
subsistence allowance from
herself and her dependent
children. A magistrate will
Ravi Shankar Prasad
told the Lok Sabha that the
government had been able
to track 300 cases of instant
“Triple Talaq” in India this year.
Nearly 100 of these cases
were reported well after
the Supreme Court ruling
including one case reported
this morning: a Muslim woman
was divorced in Uttar Pradesh
for waking up late, Mr Prasad
said.
The Congress has backed
the government on bill but
suggested some changes to
make the provisions to protect
Muslim women.
During the debate in the
Lok Sabha, many opposition
leaders have asked the
government to revisit  the
provision for jail term for the
Muslim man who attempts
to divorce by instant “Triple
Talaq”. It was pointed that
the man would not, if he is
jailed, be able to provide a
subsistence allowance.
The government has
allayed this fear, saying that
courts were free to release
the man on bail. Also, the
magistrates have been given
a free hand to send the man
to jail for a shorter duration.
The law does not specify a
minimum jail term that those
found guilty would have to
serve.
The tripple talaq bill was
pushed to the Budget session
of the parliament. The Rajya
Sabha was adjourned today
at the end of the winter
session, ensuring the “triple
talaq” bill is pushed to
the budget session which
begins later this month.
The Congress and BJP had
issued whips to all their MPs
in the Rajya Sabha to be
present in the house today
just in case the bill was taken
up. Though it was listed in
the Rajya Sabha’s agenda
today, but, with a deadlock
between the government and
opposition continuing, it did
not come up.
The government had
largely seen this coming,
having failed to convince
the opposition to help pass
the bill in the Rajya Sabha,
where it is in a minority. A
united opposition led by the
Congress stuck to its demand
that the bill, cleared by the
Lok Sabha last week, be sent
for review to a parliamentary
committee.
FEBRUARY 2018 | WWW.WISHESH.NET