Triple Talaq Bill is 'unconstitutional', says Asaduddin Owaisi

AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi on Friday claimed that the controversial Triple Talaq Bill is unconstitutional, saying it would be a great injustice against Muslim women if the Bill became law.

"Triple Talaq Bill is unconstitutional. It is a violation of the Constitution's Article 14 and 15. We already have the Domestic Violence Act 2005, CrPC Section 125, Muslim Women Marriage Act. If Triple Talaq Bill becomes a law it will be even greater injustice against women," he told reporters outside the Parliament.

Voicing his opposal on the Bill, Owaisi said, "If a man gets arrested how will he give allowance from jail? The government says if a Muslim man commits this crime the marriage will remain intact and he will be jailed for three years if punished by the court. He will be jailed for three yrs but marriage will be intact. What law is Mr (Narendra) Modi forming?"

"I would like to ask him (Modi) what kind of justice is this that if such law is implemented on a non-Muslim man then he goes to jail for one year and a Muslim man goes to jail for three years," he added.

The controversial Triple Talaq Bill was introduced on Friday in the Lok Sabha in the midst of stiff opposition from Opposition parties which are against criminalising the offence.

The Opposition raised strong objections at the introduction itself. After a brief discussion, the motion for tabling the bill was put to vote. 186 members voted for introduction and 74 against.

Speaker Om Birla then allowed Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad to introduce the bill. Earlier he put up a stiff defence of the government move saying the issue was not of religion but of women.

"The rights of Muslim women will be protected. It is about justice & empowerment of women. People have chosen us to make laws. It is our work to make laws. Law is to give justice to the victims of Triple Talaq," he had said in the House.

There was a commotion in the Lok Sabha when the minister sought to introduce the bill. The Speaker had to intervene to let the Minister speak on the bill amidst the ruckus.

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor had claimed that the Bill does nothing to improve the status of Muslim women. Owaisi, on the other hand, argued that the Bill places burden of proof on women.

The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2019 seeks to replace an ordinance by the government in February and to make instant triple talaq a penal offence.

Last year, The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2018 was passed in Lok Sabha but it lapsed after the dissolution of previous Lok Sabha with the bill pending in Rajya Sabha.

-ANI