Exactly a year ago today, the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019, was passed by both Houses of the Parliament. This Act, in substance, declared the triple talaq, ie talaq-e-biddat or any other similar form of talaq, illegal. Any Muslim husband who pronounces such talaq to his wife can suffer imprisonment for a term of three years and also be liable for fine.

The offence under this law is cognisable only if the information given to the police is either by the married Muslim woman to whom the talaq is pronounced or by any person related to her by blood or marriage. This is designed to prevent misuse by outsiders. Under the Act, bail can be granted only after hearing the victim woman and on reasonable grounds.

There is provision for subsistence allowance for the wife and her dependent children as determined by the magistrate, including the right of the wife for the custody of her minor children. Significantly, the offence punishable under the Act has also been made compoundable but only at the insistence of the Muslim woman and with the permission of the magistrate on appropriate terms, which the court may determine.

It is indeed a sad commentary that in spite of more than 20 Islamic countries having regulated triple talaq in one form or the other, it took us more than 70 years since Independence to pass such a law in Parliament, after so much opposition and campaign by vested interests. I had repeatedly argued in Parliament that this legislation is only designed for gender justice, equity and empowerment and has no religious overtones at all.

Should an India be governed by constitutional principles including fundamental rights, which so proudly proclaim gender justice and empowerment, allow a big segment of our women to suffer this rank discrimination, that too when majority of the victims came from economically weaker sections? Prime Minister Narendra Modi was very clear that the government must work to ensure justice to victims of triple talaq, support their cause in the court and also bring out a robust law.

While doing the homework for the Bill, I was distressed to learn about many instances wherein triple talaq, irrevocably annulling the marriage, was pronounced for the flimsiest of reasons which included food not being cooked properly, or the wife waking up late in the morning. An IT professional, who reached out to me, had to suffer the ignominy of triple talaq through WhatsApp from her husband from a Middle Eastern country, because her third child was also a daughter.

Today is also the occasion for me to salute the great courage shown by many Muslim women organisations and victims, who took up this cause and challenged it in court. The Supreme Court ultimately declared triple talaq as unconstitutional in a majority judgment. Two judges declared triple talaq to be manifestly arbitrary and therefore violative of Article 14 of the Constitution.

All India Muslim Personal Law Board vehemently argued before the court that they will themselves educate their community against this form of divorce and the court shouldnt intervene. Regrettably, instead of educating their community effectively they took the lead in opposing the proposed law itself when it was under parliamentary scrutiny.

Our post-Independence history has always witnessed progressive laws designed to curb instances of atrocities against women. Dowry Prohibition Act 1961, or Section 32 of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005, or Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) relating to cruelty against a woman by her husband or his relatives, are all cognisable and non-bailable offences and they are religion neutral. Further, Section 304B of the IPC made the offence punishable with life imprisonment if death because of harassment of the wife occurs within seven years of marriage. Requisite amendments were also made under the Evidence Act about presumption of abetment to suicide and dowry death.

In 2018, we amended Section 376 of the IPC where deterrent punishments of death in case of rape has been provided if the victim is 12 years or below in age. I need to acknowledge that all these legislations were supported over the years by all the political parties where religion of the offender or victim was irrelevant. Why is it that in case of triple talaq, such progressive evolution of Indias society and polity was found to be wavering? The only inference is that from Shah Bano in 1985 to Shayara Bano in 2017, vote bank politics continued to dominate vested political interests at great cost to Muslim women.

While moving the Bill in the Parliament, I had shared statistics on the continuation of practice of triple talaq even after the judgment of the SC. I am happy to learn that the department of minority affairs has elaborately examined the state wise data, after getting feedback from various Waqf Boards and other sources, and found out a significant decline in number of cases of triple talaq after the enactment of this law, as compared to the number reported earlier. Further, in many cases, respectable compromise has also been achieved. This is an assuring sign of empowerment and redemption. Getting this historic legislation passed by the Parliament was indeed personally very satisfying for me.

DISCLAIMER : Views expressed above are the author's own.

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Law banning triple talaq: A year ago today, we reached a defining moment in empowerment of women - The Times of India Blog