GS-2 Paper
Topic covered- Women related issues, Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.
Triple Talaq Bill
Context
The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2019 passed in both Houses of Parliament.
What is Triple Talaq Bill?
- The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2019 is popularly known as the triple talaq Bill.
- Triple Talaq is a form of Islamic divorce which has been used by Muslims in India.
- It is prevalent in especially adherents of Hanafi Sunni Islamic schools of jurisprudence.
- It allows any Muslim man to legally divorce his wife by stating the word talaq three times in oral, written, or more recently, electronic form.
- The Bill makes instant triple talaq void and illegal. It seeks to make the practice of instant triple talaq a punishable offence with imprisonment of up to three years.
Key provisions of the Bill
- The Bill makes all declaration of talaq, including in written or electronic form, to be void (i.e. not enforceable in law) and illegal.
- It defines talaq as talaq-e-biddat or any other similar form of talaq pronounced by a Muslim man resulting in instant and irrevocable divorce.
- Talaq-e-biddat refers to the practice under Muslim personal laws where pronouncement of the word ‘talaq’ thrice in one sitting by a Muslim man to his wife results in an instant and irrevocable divorce.
- The Bill makes declaration of talaq a cognizable offence, attracting up to three years’ imprisonment with a fine.
- The bill states that the offence will be cognizable only if information relating to the offence is given by the married woman (whom talaq has been declared), or any person related to her by blood or marriage.
- Cognizable offence is one for which a police officer may arrest an accused person without a warrant.
- The Bill provides that the Magistrate may grant bail to the accused if the Magistrate is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for granting bail.
- The offence of instant triple talaq “compoundable”, where a magistrate can use his powers to settle the dispute between a husband and his wife. It allows a wife to drop the case, if husband returns to her later and they arrive at a compromise.
- Compounding refers to the procedure where the two sides agree to stop legal proceedings, and settle the dispute.
- The terms and conditions of the compounding of the offence will be determined by the Magistrate.
- It envisages entitling divorcee Muslim women for maintenance.
- A Muslim woman upon whom talaq has been pronounced, is entitled to seek subsistence allowance from her husband for herself and for her dependent children.
- The amount of the allowance will be determined by the Magistrate.
- A married Muslim woman will be entitled to custody of her minor children in the event of pronouncement of talaq by her husband, which will be determined by the Magistrate.
Concerns regarding the Bill
- An act that has no legal consequences being made a criminal offence, cognisable and non-bailable is manifestly arbitrary and therefore, violative of Article 14.
- There is no rationale to criminalise the practice of talaq-e-biddat and imprison Muslim men.
- Now, the Muslim men will be incarcerated, thus violating the rights of conjugality of these two persons.
- Since Muslim marriage is a civil contract between two adult persons, the procedures to be followed on its breakdown should also be of civil nature.
- The government should strengthen the negotiating capacities of women by providing them economic and socio-legal support rather than criminalising the pronouncement of triple talaq.
- No economic and socio-legal support is provided by the government in the Bill to women, children and other dependents, when the erring men are put behind bars.
- The Bill allows for the aggrieved woman as well as anyone related to her by blood or marriage to be the complainant.
- There is no provision for a relative to seek the consent of an aggrieved woman before filing a complaint.
- The problem becomes particularly acute in the case of inter-religious marriages of Muslim men with a woman of another religion.
- The term of imprisonment up to three years is arbitrary and excessive.
- Serious crimes like causing death by rash or negligent act, Rioting, Injuring or defiling place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class – all punishable by two years in jail or fine or both.
- All these criminal acts have lesser punishment than pronouncing triple talaq, which is arbitrary and excessive, and violative of Article 14 of the Constitution.
Significance
- The Bill will help in ensuring gender justice and gender equality of married Muslim women and will help them in practising their fundamental rights of non-discrimination and empowerment.
- Time has come to put an end to the suffering of Muslim women who have been at the receiving end of instant talaq for several years. More than 20 Islamic countries have already banned the practice.
GS- 2 Paper
Topic covered- Government Policies & Interventions, Dispute Redressal Mechanisms.
Consumer Protection Bill, 2019
Context
The Lok Sabha passed the Consumer Protection Bill 2019 after due consideration and discussion.
About
- The Consumer Protection Bill 2019 will regulate matters related to violation of consumer rights, unfair trade practices, and misleading advertisements.
- Central government has been made empowered to set up a Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) to promote, protect and enforce the rights of consumers and will be empowered to investigate, recall, refund and impose penalties.
- The authority will have power to impose a penalty on a manufacturer or an endorser of up to 10 lakh rupees and imprisonment for up to two years for a false or misleading advertisement.
Objectives
- The bill aims at protecting the interests of consumers by establishing authorities for timely and effective administration and settlement of consumers’ dispute.
- The Bill aims to simplify a number of rules and the entire process of redressal of consumer grievances.
Salient Features of the Bill
- Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA): Executive Agency to provide relief to a class of consumers.
The CCPA will be empowered to-
- Conduct investigations into violations of consumer rights and institute Complaints /Prosecution
- Order recall of unsafe goods and services
- Order discontinuance of Unfair Trade Practices and Misleading Advertisements
- Impose penalties on Manufactures /Endorsers /Publishers of Misleading Advertisements
- Simplified Dispute Resolution process-
- Pecuniary Jurisdiction enhanced to-
- District Commission –Up to Rs1 crore
- State Commission- Between Rs1 crore and Rs 10 crore
- National Commission –Above Rs.10 crore
- Deemed admissibility after 21days of filing
- Empowerment of Consumer Commission to enforce their orders
- Appeals only on question of law after second stage
- Ease of approaching consumer commission
- Filing from place of residence
- E-filing
- Videoconferencing for hearing
- Mediation
- An Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanism
- Reference to Mediation by Consumer Forum wherever scope for early settlement exists and parties agree for it.
- Mediation cells to be attached to Consumer Forum
- No appeal against settlement through mediation
- Product Liability
- A manufacturer or product service provider or product seller to be responsible to compensate for injury or damage caused by defective product or deficiency in services
- The Basis for product liability action will be-
- Manufacturing defect
- Design defect
- Deviation from manufacturing specifications
- Not conforming to express warranty
- Failing to contain adequate instruction for correct use
- Services provided arefaulty, imperfect or deficient
New Bill- Benefit to Consumers
Presently Consumer only have a single point of access to justice, which is time consuming. Additional swift executive remedies are proposed in the bill through Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA)
- Deterrent punishment to check misleading advertisements and adulteration of products
- Product liability provision to deter manufacturers and service providers from delivering defective products or deficient services
- Ease of approaching Consumer Commission and Simplification of Adjudication process
- Scope for early disposal of cases through mediation
- Provision for rules for new age consumer issues: e-commerce & direct selling
GS- 3 Paper
Topic covered– Growth & Development, Government Policies & Interventions.
Code on Wages Bill, 2019
Context
The Lok Sabha passed The Code on Wages Bill, 2019.
About the Bill
- Code on Wages Bill is to define the norms for fixing minimum wages that will be applicable to workers of organised and unorganised sectors, except government employees and MGNREGA workers.
- The Bill would ensure Right to Sustenance for every worker and intends to increase the legislative protection of minimum wage from existing about 40% to 100% workforce.
- The Code on Wages Bill, 2019, subsumes relevant provisions of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, the Payment of Wages Act, 1936, the Payment of Bonus Act, 1965 and the Equal Remuneration Act, 1976.
- After the enactment of the Bill, all these four Acts will get repealed.
Key Features of the Bill
- The bill seeks to define the norms for fixing minimum wages which will be applicable to workers of organised and unorganised sectors, except government employees and MNREGA workers.
- The Code will apply to all employees. The central government will make wage-related decisions for employments such as railways, mines, and oil fields, among others.
- State governments will make decisions for all other employments.
- Wages include salary, allowance, or any other component expressed in monetary terms. This does not include bonus payable to employees or any travelling allowance, among others.
Floor wage
- According to the Code, the central government will fix a floor wage, taking into account living standards of workers.
- Further, it may set different floor wages for different geographical areas.
- Before fixing the floor wage, the central government may obtain the advice of the Central Advisory Board and may consult with state governments.
- The minimum wages decided by the central or state governments must be higher than the floor wage.
- In case the existing minimum wages fixed by the central or state governments are higher than the floor wage, they cannot reduce the minimum wages.
Fixing the minimum wage
- The Code prohibits employers from paying wages less than the minimum wages.
- Minimum wages will be notified by the central or state governments. This will be based on time, or number of pieces produced.
- The minimum wages will be revised and reviewed by the central or state governments at an interval of not more than five years.
- While fixing minimum wages, the central or state governments may take into account factors such as: (i) skill of workers, and (ii) difficulty of work.
Overtime
- The central or state government may fix the number of hours that constitute a normal working day.
- In case employees work in excess of a normal working day, they will be entitled to overtime wage, which must be at least twice the normal rate of wages.
Determination of bonus
- All employees whose wages do not exceed a specific monthly amount, notified by the central or state government, will be entitled to an annual bonus.
- The bonus will be at least-
- 33% of his wages, or
- Rs 100, whichever is higher.
- In addition, the employer will distribute a part of the gross profits amongst the employees.
- An employee can receive a maximum bonus of 20% of his annual wages.
Gender discrimination
- The Code prohibits gender discrimination in matters related to wages and recruitment of employees for the same work or work of similar nature.
- Work of similar nature is defined as work for which the skill, effort, experience, and responsibility required are the same.
Advisory boards
- The central and state governments will constitute advisory boards.
- The Central Advisory Board will consist of-
- employers,
- employees (in equal number as employers),
- independent persons,
- Five representatives of state governments.
- State Advisory Boards will consist of employers, employees, and independent persons.
- Further, one-third of the total members on both the central and state Boards will be women.
Offences: The Code specifies penalties for offences committed by an employer, such as-
- paying less than the due wages,
- For contravening any provision of the Code.
Penalties vary depending on the nature of offence, with the maximum penalty being imprisonment for three months along with a fine of up to one lakh rupees.
Conclusion
- The bill pursues the observation made in the Economic Survey which has said that a well-designed minimum wage system “can be a potent tool for protecting workers and alleviating poverty if set at an appropriate level that ensures compliance.
For prelims-
Central Wakf Council
About
- It is a statutory body under the administrative control of the Ministry of Minority Affairs.
- It was established in 1964 by the Government of India under Wakf Act, 1954 .
- It has been established for the purpose of advising Centre on matters pertaining to working of the State Wakf Boards and proper administration of the Wakfs in the country.
- It is a permanent dedication of movable or immovable properties for religious, pious or charitable purposes as recognized by Muslim Law, given by philanthropists.
- The Council has also been empowered to advise the State Governments and State Waqf Boards.
- It can also issue directives to the boards, State Government to furnish information to the Council on the performance of the board particularly on their financial performance, survey revenue records encroachment of Waqf properties and Annual and Audit report etc.
- The Council consists of Chairperson, who is the Union Minister in charge of Waqf and such other members, not exceeding 20 in number, as may be appointed by the Government of India.
