The triple talaq bill was passed in the Lok Sabha on Thursday even as Opposition members of the Congress and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam walked out of the House before voting began. The motion for Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2018, was adopted with 238 votes for and 12 against it.
The Winter Session of the Parliament resumed on Thursday after the Christmas break. The Lok Sabha voted on every clause in the bill.
The bill was taken up for discussion after the Lower House was adjourned till 2 pm as members of the Opposition kept up their protests demanding an inquiry into the Rafale deal. The Rajya Sabha was adjourned for the day over the Cauvery row.
The Congress and the Trinamool Congress asked the House to send the triple talaq bill – which Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said is for the “rights of women and about justice” – to a joint select committee. The Centre had tabled it in the Lower House last week.
The discussions were made possible after the government and Opposition parties reached an understanding to discuss the bill set to replace an ordinance that criminalises the practice of Muslim men divorcing their wives by uttering the word “talaq” three times in any form – spoken, written, or via electronic communication.
The Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress issued whips to their Lok Sabha members, asking them to be present in Parliament on Thursday.
Earlier, Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge had said the Congress would take part in the discussion on the bill and present its opinion. “We will appeal to the government that it should not interfere in a religious matter,” he had added.
During the morning session, members of the Congress, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the Telugu Desam Party protested in the Well of the House despite several warnings from Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, PTI reported. While the Tamil Nadu MPs protested against the construction of a dam on the Cauvery river, Telugu Desam Party members demanded special category status for Andhra Pradesh and a steel plant in the state.
The Congress MPs demanded a Joint Parliamentary Committee inquiry into the Rafale defence deal.
While a single question was taken up during the Question Hour that went on for 15 minutes, Mahajan was soon forced to adjourn proceedings till noon and later till 2 pm.
Rajya Sabha adjourned for the day
The Upper House was adjourned without transacting any business after MPs protested over several issues, including the construction of the Mekedatu dam on Cauvery. Members of the Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party also protested against the mob violence in Bulandshahr earlier this month, in which a police officer and a civilian were killed.
Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu adjourned the proceedings and said that nothing said by the protesting members would go on record. “As nobody seems to be interested I have no option but to adjourn the House for the day,” he said.
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