Bill No. 181 of 2018
AS INTRODUCED IN LOK SABHA
THE MUSLIM WOMEN (PROTECTION OF
RIGHTS ON MARRIAGE)
BILL, 2018
A
BILL
to protect the rights of
married Muslim women and to prohibit divorce by pronouncing
talaq by their husbands and to provide for matters
connected therewith or incidental
thereto.
BE it enacted by Parliament in the
Sixty-ninth Year of the Republic of India as follows:—
CHAPTER I
PRELIMINARY
1. (1) This Act may be called the Muslim Women (Protection
of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2018.
(2)
It shall extend to the whole of India, except the State of Jammu and Kashmir.
(3)
It shall be deemed to have come into force on the 19th September, 2018.
2. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,—
(a)
‘‘electronic form’’ shall have the same meaning as assigned to it in clause (r)
of sub-section (1) of section 2 of the Information Technology Act,
2000;
(b)
‘‘Magistrate’’ means a Judicial Magistrate of the first class exercising jurisdiction
under the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, in the area where the married Muslim
woman resides; and
(c)
‘‘talaq’’ means talaq-e-biddat or
any other similar form of talaq having the effect of instantaneous and irrevocable
divorce pronounced by a Muslim husband.
CHAPTER II
DECLARATION OF TALAQ TO BE VOID AND ILLEGAL
3. Any pronouncement of talaq by
a Muslim husband upon his wife, by words, either spoken or written or in
electronic form or in any other manner whatsoever, shall be void and
illegal.
4. Any Muslim husband who pronounces talaq referred
to in section 3 upon his wife shall be punished with imprisonment for a term
which may extend to three years, and shall also be liable to fine.
CHAPTER III
PROTECTION OF RIGHTS OF MARRIED MUSLIM WOMEN
5. Without prejudice to the generality of the
provisions contained in any other law for the time being in force, a married
Muslim woman upon whom talaq is pronounced shall be entitled to receive from her
husband such amount of subsistence allowance, for her and dependent children,
as may be determined by the Magistrate.
6. Notwithstanding anything contained in any other law
for the time being in force, a married Muslim woman shall be entitled to
custody of her minor children in the event of pronouncement of talaq by
her husband, in such manner as may be determined by the Magistrate.
7. Notwithstanding anything contained in the Code of
Criminal Procedure, 1973,—
(a)
an offence punishable under this Act shall be cognizable, if information relating
to the commission of the offence is given to an officer in charge of a police station
by the married Muslim woman upon whom talaq is pronounced or any person related
to her by blood or marriage;
(b)
an offence punishable under this Act shall be compoundable, at the instance of
the married Muslim woman upon whom talaq is pronounced with the
permission of the Magistrate, on such terms and conditions as he may determine;
(c)
no person accused of an offence punishable under this Act shall be released on
bail unless the Magistrate, on an application filed by the accused and after
hearing the married Muslim woman upon whom talaq is pronounced, is satisfied
that there are reasonable grounds for granting bail to such person.
8. (1) The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on
Marriage) Ordinance, 2018, is hereby repealed.
(2)
Notwithstanding such repeal, anything done or any action taken under the said Ordinance
shall be deemed to have been done or taken under the provisions of this Act.
STATEMENT OF OBJECTS AND
REASONS
The Supreme Court in the matter
of Shayara Bano Vs. Union of India and others and other connected
matters, on 22nd August, 2017, in a majority judgment of 3:2, set aside the practice
of talaq-e-biddat (three pronouncements of talaq,
at one and the same time) practiced by certain Muslim husbands to divorce their
wives. This judgment gave a boost to liberate Indian Muslim women from the
age-old practice of capricious and whimsical method of divorce, by some Muslim
men, leaving no room for reconciliation.
2. The petitioner in the above
said case challenged, inter alia, talaq-e-biddat on
the ground that the said practice is discriminatory and against dignity of
women. The judgment vindicated the position taken by the Government that talaq-e-biddat is against constitutional moraility, dignity of women and the
principles of gender equality, as also against gender equity guaranteed under
the Constitution. The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), which was
the 7th respondent in the above case, in their affidavit, inter alia,
contended that it was not for the judiciary to decide matters of religious
practices such as talaq-e-biddat, but for the legislature to make any law on the
same. They had also submitted in the Supreme Court that they would issue
advisories to the members of the community against this practice.
3. In spite of the Supreme
Court setting aside talaq-e-biddat, and the assurance of AIMPLB, there have been
reports of divorce by way of talaq-e-biddat from
different parts of the country. It is seen that setting aside talaq-e-biddat by the Supreme Court has not worked as any deterrent in bringing
down the number of divorces by this practice among
certain Muslims. It is,
therefore, felt that there is a need for State action to give effect to the order
of the Supreme Court and to redress the grievances of victims of illegal
divorce.
4. In order to prevent the
continued harassment being meted out to the hapless married Muslim women due to
talaq-e-biddat, urgent suitable legislation was necessary to give some
relief to them. Therefore, to protect the rights of married Muslim women who
are being divorced by triple talaq, a Bill, namely, the Muslim
Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2017, was introduced in, and
passed by, the Lok Sabha on the 28th December, 2017 and
is pending in Rajya Sabha.
5. The aforesaid Bill proposed
to declare the practice of triple talaq as void and
illegal and made it an offence punishable with imprisonment up to three years
and fine, and triable by a Judicial Magistrate of the first class. It was also
proposed to provide subsistence allowance to married Muslim women and dependent
children and also for the custody of minor children. The Bill further provided
to make the offence cognizable and non-bailable.
6. Apprehensions have been
raised in and outside Parliament regarding the provisions of the pending Bill
which enables any person to give information to an officer in-charge of a
police station to take cognizance of the offence and making the offence non-bailable.
7. In order to address the
above concerns, it has been decided to make the offence cognizable, if the
information relating to the commission of an offence is given to an officer in-charge
of a police station by the married Muslim women upon whom talaq is
pronounced or any person related to her by blood or marriage. It is also
decided to make the offence non-bailable and compoundable at the instance of
the married Muslim woman with the permission of the Magistrate, on such terms
and conditions as he may determine.
8. As the Bill is pending for
consideration in Rajya Sabha and the practice of divorce by triple talaq (i.e.,
talaq-e-biddat) was continuing, there was an urgent need to take immediate
action to prevent such practice by making stringent provisions in the law.
Since both Houses of Parliament were not in session and circumstances exist
which render it necessary for the President to take immediate action in the
matter, the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Ordinance, 2018,
with afforesaid changes was promulgated on the 19th September, 2018.
9. Accordingly, to replace the
said Ordinance, the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2018
is being introduced in Parliament.
10. The legislation would help
in ensuring the larger Constitutional goals of gender justice and gender
equality of married Muslim women and help subserve their fundamental rights of
non-discrimination and empowerment.
11. The Bill seeks to achieve
the above objectives.
NEW DELHI; RAVI
SHANKAR PRASAD
The 10th December, 2018.
LOK SABHA
————
A
BILL
to protect the rights of
married Muslim women and to prohibit divorce by pronouncing
talaq by their husbands and to provide for matters
connected therewith or
incidental thereto.
(Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister of Law and
Justice)
LOK SABHA
------
CORRIGENDUM
to
THE MUSLIM WOMEN (PROTECTION OF RIGHTS ON MARRIAGE) BILL, 2018
[To be/As introduced in Lok Sabha]
1. Page 4, in line 6,-
for “with afforesaid”
read “with aforesaid”
NEW
DELHI;
December
12, 2018__________
Agrahayana
21, 1940 (Saka)
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