After deadlock, talaq bill pushed to Budget session

New Delhi: With the triple talaq bill failing to get through Rajya Sabha on the last day of the Winter Session of Parliament on Friday, the Narendra Modi government has now decided to bring it during the Budget Session which will commence from January 29.

Union minister for minority affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and parliamentary affairs minister Ananth Kumar, while asserting the government’s commitment to abolish triple talaq, said that the government will now bring the “bill in the Budget Session”.

“We are committed to it (bill) and assure the Muslim women that this illegal practice (of instant triple talaq) will be abolished,” said Mr Naqvi.

The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2017, which criminalises instant talaq and provides for up to three years of imprisonment for accused Muslim men, was passed by the Lok Sabha on December 28. However, a united Opposition stalled it in the Rajya Sabha with the Congress moving a motion that the bill be sent to a select committee for further scrutiny, a move strongly opposed by the treasury benches. The ruling NDA is in a minority in the Upper House.

Slamming the Congress for stalling the bill, Mr Kumar said, “The Congress is doing injustice to the Muslim women by opposing the triple talaq bill. They are not thinking about ensuring justice to the Muslim sisters. They are doing injustice the same way they did in the Shah Bano case.”

Mr Kumar said that Congress president Rahul Gandhi talks about woman empowerment but “runs away” when it comes to acting on it.  

He alleged that everyday the Congress came up with an excuse to stall the bill in the Upper House. However, the government is “committed to passing the law and empower our Muslim sisters,” said the parliamentary affairs minister.

The Congress, in turn, held the ruling BJP responsible for the impasse in Rajya Sabha due to which the bill could not be taken up and accused it of treating Parliament as a “rubber stamp”.

Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad said that for the first time in the country’s parliamentary history people could see ministers stalling proceedings. They created an impasse for the last three days of the session due to which the triple talaq bill could not be taken up, he added.

When the Budget Session starts on January 29, the motion, which was moved by Congress leader Anand Sharma against a provision in the bill, will be taken up for consideration. Sources said that the government will seek the bill’s passage in the first phase of the session and will be holding talks with Opposition parties to arrive at a consensus.

The first phase of the Budget Session will be from January 29 to February 9. After a recess, Parliament will meet again from March 5 to April 6.

Jaitley to present Union Budget 2018-19 on February 1

The Budget Session of Parliament is set to commence on January 29 and the Union Budget for 2018-19 will be presented on February 1, the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs (CCPA) recommended on Friday. The first phase of the session will be from January 29 to February 9. After a recess, Parliament will meet again from March 5 to April 6, Parliamentary affairs minister Ananth Kumar said.