Well, the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2017 a.k.a Instant Triple Talaq Bill which is a consequence of the Supreme Court judgment in Shayara Bano v. Union of India has been passed by the Lok Sabha with an overwhelming majority. Supreme Court, in that case, held that instant Triple Talaq (Talaq-e-Biddat) is unconstitutional and manifestly arbitrary for women. Further, Justice Khehar in his minority opinion directed the government to legislate on the subject of triple talaq within six months. Government obediently pretending to be acting under the direction of Supreme Court (though direction was given in minority opinion) drafted this controversial bill which has been ambushed by many scholars, experts, and political parties. This article highlights the real and the alleged issues with the bill and also does a political and legal analysis of it (you cannot separate law from politics, can you?).
The statement of objects and reasons of the bill states that the bill seeks to achieve the object of gender justice and gender equality of married Muslim women but some see ulterior motives of the ruling party in it. And why not, when the government acts on a direction of SC which it is not bound to observe clearly raises eyebrows. The government justifies its action by opining that the making these three words ineffective is insufficient and further rights need to be given to Muslim women empowering them which this bill very effectively does by making provision like providing subsistence allowance and custody of the child in favour of the women.
The main points where the government is accused of doing more than empowering Muslim women and in a way targeting Muslims community as a whole are-
1. CRIMINAL LIABILITY
The main bone of contention in this bill is the penal provision which prescribes a jail term up to 3 years along with fine. Further, the bill makes pronouncing triple talaq a cognizable and non-bailable crime. Congress did not oppose this bill (surprise! surprise! surprise!) but AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi had contended that marriage is a civil contract and hence any act related to it would result in civil offense but the government to put the Muslim community in fear has made it a criminal offense. Experts have also contended that criminal / penal sanction for triple talaq is ‘unnecessary overkill’. It has also been contended that merely making triple talaq ineffective is adequate as it does cause any harm to society and this bill is specifically aimed at Muslims by the ruling party.
The argument of ‘civil contract does not withstand the scrutiny of reason as there are already a plethora of provisions related to marriage which are community neutral (i.e. they apply to Muslims as well) where criminal punishment is dished out to the accused, like adultery (up to 5 years) under section 497 of IPC and the same is the case with section 496 of IPC which penalizes any person going through the ceremonies of marriage fraudulently without getting married lawfully (up to 7 years). Further, the government has contended that the punishment will act as a deterrent and will also empower women to take action against their husband
2. QUANTUM OF PUNISHMENT
A person can be awarded a sentence up to 3 years under the proposed bill. But a cursory look at some other crimes and their corresponding punishment reveals that this punishment is way too stringent. Where the punishment for causing death by rash and negligent act is up to 2 years, for using force or violence during rioting is also up to 2 years, for dealing with explosive substances up to six months, 3 years for triple talaq are way out of line.
3. COGNIZABLE & NON-BAILABLE
The bill also makes talaq-e-biddat a cognizable and non-bailable offense showcasing it as a grave crime which is wholly unnecessary. The labelling of the crime as cognizable is unreasonable and further by making the crime as non-bailable, the clause allowing the wife to get subsistence allowance is put in haphazard as it would be sheer stupidity to think that husband would be in a posotion to give subsitence allowance while languishing in jail.
In all, the legislation is not perfect but no legislation is drafted to perfection. They are made perfect by fruitful debates and amendments in Parliament. We should be proud of having such legislation at last which at least recognizes the pain and misery of women. The bill is yet to be presented in Rajya Sabha where a lot can be anticipated to happen, especially with the cognizable and non-bailable clause which is actively opposed by many political parties including Congress.
Comments
Post a Comment