Triple Talaq Bill to be tabled in Rajya Sabha today, ordinance may be next step

The much-debated Triple TalaqBill will be tabled in the Rajya Sabha on Friday, a day after the Union Cabinet approved amendments to the bill.

On Thursday, the Cabinet proposed two changes to the Muslim Women Protection of Rights on Marriage Bill, 2017.

First,only the victim, or a close relative is allowed to lodge an FIR against a case of triple talaq.

Add WION as a Preferred Source

And second, the case can be dropped if the husband and wife agree to settle their differences.

The government however has refused to softenthe three-year jail term the bill prescribes for someone found guilty of using triple talaq.

And only a magistrate can release an accused on bail.

If the amended bill is passed in the Rajya Sabha, it will have to go back to the Lok Sabha for approval of the amendments.

Friday is the last day of the monsoon session of Parliament.

News reports on Friday said that if the upper house does not pass the bill, the government may bring in an ordinance to turn it into law.

The Lok Sabha had passed the bill, which seeks to make triple talaq a criminal offence, on December 29, a day after the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government tabled it.

Triple talaq, or verbal divorce, is practised by a section of the Muslim community.

The practice allows a man to instantly divorce his wife by uttering the word "talaq" (divorce) three times.