Bill on triple talaq introduced in Lok Sabha
New Delhi: A bill criminalising triple talaq was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Thursday amid protests from opposition parties who objected to its introduction.
Members from the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), Biju Janata Dal, and some other parties spoke against the introduction of The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2017.
No member from the Congress was, however, allowed to speak, as Speaker Sumitra Mahajan said that they had not given a notice in advance to speak on the issue.
Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad called it a historic day, and stated that the Bill was to ensure gender justice for Muslim women.
It was introduced after a voice vote, as all treasury benches members supported the introduction of the Bill.
The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2017 criminalises triple talaq, or oral divorce and has provision for a maximum three year jail term and fine for practicing this form of divorce.
It also gives Muslim women right to seek maintenance, and right to child's custody.
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Can't say when I'll return to India; legally barred from leaving UK: Mallya to Bombay HC
Mumbai (PTI): Fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya, facing multiple cases of fraud and money laundering, told the Bombay High Court on Wednesday that he cannot say when he will return to India as he is legally barred from leaving the UK.
In a statement submitted through his counsel Amit Desai to the high court, Mallya said he did not have an active passport after it was revoked and hence, he cannot give a definite date of return to India.
The statement was submitted after a bench of Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam Ankhad made it clear last week that it would not hear Mallya's plea against the order declaring a fugitive economic offender until he returns to India.
The court had then asked the former liquor to clarify whether or not he intended to return to India.
Mallya, based in the United Kingdom since 2016, has filed two petitions in the HC -- one challenging an order declaring him a fugitive economic offender and the other questioning the constitutional validity of the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act.
The 70-year-old liquor baron is accused of defaulting on multiple loan repayments of several thousand crores and facing money laundering charges.
The businessman, in his statement to HC, said he cannot give a definite date for his return as he does not have his Indian passport, which was revoked by the government in 2016, and also because there are orders of courts in England and Wales that prohibit him from leaving the country.
"Mallya is not permitted to leave or attempt to leave England and Wales or apply for or be in possession of any international travel document. In any event, the petitioner is unable to precisely state when he will return to India," Desai read out the statement in the court.
The senior counsel reiterated that Mallya's presence was not required in the country for the court to hear his pleas against the fugitive tag and the provisions of the Act.
"If he (Mallya) were to appear in India, then all these proceedings would be rendered irrelevant as the statute says that once the offender appears in the concerned court of law, then all these orders would be set aside," Desai told the court.
The bench directed the Union government to file its reply to Mallya's statement and posted the matter for further hearing next month.
Mallya was declared a Fugitive Economic Offender in January 2019 by a special court hearing cases under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The businessman left India in March 2016.
