Triple talaq bill stalled in Rajya Sabha
New Delhi, Aug 10 : The proposed law to criminalise the practice of instant divorce by Muslim husbands will not see the light of the day for at least four more months as the Rajya Sabha on Friday decided to defer the consideration of the bill till the next session due to lack of consensus.
Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu said the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2017, has been deferred till the next session even as Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad demanded that the bill be taken up. The Chairman said he would not proceed without a consensus.
The minister blamed the Congress for the delay.
"Sir, whatever is happening is unfair. Should the Muslim women not get justice? The Congress is delaying it in the name of select committee," Prasad said as Opposition MPs protested loudly and Naidu asked the Minister to stop.
The Union Cabinet on Thursday cleared amendments to the bill, which was passed by the Lok Sabha, with the fresh version allowing a magistrate to give bail to the men found instantly divorcing their wives.
According to the new provisions of the bill, instant divorce will continue to be illegal and void, attracting a jail term of three years for the guilty. But if the wife and the husband desire to settle their differences, then a magistrate can compound the offence on appropriate terms and conditions and grant bail after hearing the wife.
The amended bill was listed for consideration and passing in the day's list of business of the Upper House. However, the Opposition members objected to its listing on a Friday, which is reserved for the private members' bills.
In the afternoon, as the House reconvened at 2.30 p.m., Chairman Naidu said: "We are taking up private members' bills now and after that we will take up two government bills. And the bills are on which there is consensus. We are not taking up the other bill (triple talaq bill)."
A few minutes later he reiterated: "I would like to say clearly again that we are not taking up triple talaq Bill for the reason that consensus has not been reached on that."
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MP boat tragedy: Death toll rises to 10 with recovery of one more body; 3 tourists still missing
Jabalpur (PTI): The body of a child was retrieved on Saturday evening from Bargi Dam in Jabalpur district of Madhya Pradesh, raising the death toll in the cruise boat tragedy that took place two days ago to ten, while search continued for three missing tourists.
The boat, operated by the state tourism department, capsized during a storm on Thursday evening with some of the survivors alleging negligence and safety lapses such as life jackets not being distributed in time.
The body recovered on Saturday evening was possibly that of six-year-old Viraj Soni, said Sub-Divisional Officer of Police (SDOP) Anjul Ayank Mishra.
"The identity will be confirmed after family members identify the body," he told PTI.
Kamraj, an employee of the Ordnance Factory at Khamaria, his five-year-old son Tamil, and another child Mayuram (5) who had come from southern India were still missing.
Authorities have arranged equipment to search deep waters of the dam and are getting a generator to facilitate diving operations, Mishra added.
Divers and disaster response teams have expanded the search radius to five km, he said.
Of the 41 identified passengers on board the ill-fated vessel, 28 were rescued, police said.
More than 200 rescuers, including around 20 Army divers airlifted from Agra, joined the search operation that resumed at 5 on Saturday morning. The operation, involving the National Disaster Response Force, State Disaster Response Force and local divers, was briefly affected at around 9 am due to strong winds, officials said.
Post-mortem examinations of nine deceased persons have been completed, Mishra said.
"Our priority is to search for the missing persons. We will also register a First Information Report in the case soon," he said.
Police said CCTV footage near the boarding point showed 43 people heading towards the boat while the identities of 41 passengers have been confirmed so far.
The state government on Friday ordered a probe into the tragedy and dismissed three crew members. It also banned operation of similar vessels in the state.
