Editorial Simplified: Hasty Step | GS – II

Relevance: GS Paper II (Polity and Governance)


Why has this issue cropped up?

The government decided to short-circuit the legislative process and took the route of an ordinance to criminalize triple talaq.


Main provision of the new law

The ordinance makes “triple talaq null and void” and will land the offending husband in jail for three years.


The basis of the new law

The government has wielded the argument of gender justice to make a case for the ordinance.


Changes brought about in the bill

Last month, the government introduced a slew of changes to the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill.

  • It removed the clause that allowed anyone to file an FIR about a triple talaq case, and made the offence cognizable only if the complaint was filed by the victim or her relatives.
  • A magistrate was also allowed to compound the offence if the husband and wife arrived at a compromise.
  • These changes watered down the Bill’s most contentious provision, its criminality clause.

Criticism of the new law

It puts the onus of proving the pronouncement of triple talaq on the wife.


 

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