Lok Sabha passes triple talaq bill amidst opposition walkout

TIL Desk/National/New Delhi/ The Lok Sabha on Thursday passed a controversial bill that criminalises the practice of triple talaq among Muslims, amidst walkout by the Congress and the BJP ally AIADMK as opposition parties attacked the government saying the measure was aimed at political gains in view of the coming general elections.

The bill, which provides for up to three years’ imprisonment for invoking instant divorce by uttering talaq thrice in a single sitting, was passed with 245 in favour and 11 against in a division after rejection of all opposition amendments, after the government turned down demands for referring the bill to a joint select committee for detailed consideration.

The Samajwadi Party and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) also joined the walk out. Strongly defending the bill after a four-hour discussion that broke the impasse in the House over the Rafale deal and other issues, Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the bill should not be looked at from the prism of politics but was meant to ensure gender justice and will have a deterrent effect. “Do not look at it from the prism of politics but from that of humanity. It is aimed at giving justice, respect,” he said.