Opposition stalls passage of triple talaq bill in RS

Amid noisy scenes, Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad introduced the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill 2017 for discussion and passage, but pandemonium broke out in the Upper House with the Opposition creating an uproar and the BJP countering it vociferously.

The House, which had met at 3 pm after witnessing three adjournments over the Maharashtra caste violence, also witnessed procedural wranglings from both sides. The bill, which seeks to make instant triple talaq illegal with up to three years in jail for the husband, was passed in the Lok Sabha on December 28.

Meanwhile, senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley said there must be a debate in the Rajya Sabha on the bill and a decision on whether it has to be sent to a select committee should be taken after that by the House.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Congress leader Shashi Tharoor traded barbs in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday over making Hindi an official language at the United Nations. Tharoor questioned the need to push it while the Minister called his remark “ignorant”.