Triple talaq law will have severe consequence on social cohesion, says Owaisi

AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi has opposed the bill seeking to criminalise instant triple talaq, saying this would have severe consequences on rule of law and social cohesion in the country.

In a letter to Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, he voiced concern over the attempt to table the bill in Parliament without consultation.

The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2017, which cleared by the cabinet on Friday, provides for a three-year jail term for triple talaq.

Owaisi demanded that the government hold consultation with All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) on the bill as it was the main party in the batch of writ petitions filed in the Supreme Court on triple talaq.

He said that the government's attempt to expedite introduction of the bill without any effort to appreciate the legal nuances involved is of deep concern.

The Hyderabad MP described it as an attempt to demonise the Muslim community in the garb of "saving" and "protecting" Muslim women.

"It is regrettable that a constitutional value as important as gender justice is being used to merely further cynical political goals," he wrote.

Owaisi said it was absurd that a special law was being considered when existing legislation sufficiently provide appropriate remedies to Muslim women who are at receiving end of triple talaq.

Along with his letter, he also attached a memorandum about legal and policy implications of criminalising triple talaq.

Meanwhile, the Congress on Friday said that it will study the law before commenting but oppose it if it violates the Supreme Court verdict.

"We have neither seen the bill nor its content and its scope. Parliament has started today, it is inappropriate to speculate on a bill not yet available to the Parliament... which has been promised," said Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi.

"I think speculation and hypothetical answers should be avoided," he added.

"We will certainly see the actual content and react in a measured responsible manner, depending on the language and the content," Singhvi said, adding: "But I want to remind you that well before the judgment of the Supreme Court came, we have given you very specific strong answers supporting the stoppage of triple talaq.” 

The Congress is in the forefront of gender justice, progressive laws, and supported the stoppage of triple talaq, he said.

"Any further bill which seeks to criminalise human action must be within the four corners of the five judgments written in that case. We have to see the bill if it is within the four corners of different nuances of the four-five judgments of that case. Yes, then we will support it. If the bill seeks to violate and transgress the limits of that Supreme Court judgment, we may have to do a rethinking and let us see that," he added.