Triple Talaq Bill: Govt, opposition locks horns in RS over triple talaq Bill
New Delhi, Dec 31: The Rajya Sabha Monday failed to initiate a discussion on the contentious triple talaq bill, with a united opposition led by the Congress demanding that the draft law be sent to a select committee for scrutiny.
With the government pressing for a discussion on the Muslim women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) bill, 2018 after Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad tabled the same, the opposition stuck to its demand for sending the bill to a select committee.
Amid a stalemate between the government and the opposition over the issue, the House failed to transact any significant business during the day.
The House was adjourned for the day amid din over the issue. Earlier the House was adjourned twice during the day with an adjournment in the morning following protests by AIADMK members over the Cauvery issue.
The House also saw another brief adjournment of 15 minutes in the afternoon soon after the triple talaq bill was tabled.
Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad said the bill was very crucial and requires further scrutiny and claimed that more than half of the members belonging to several parties have demanded that the bill be sent to a select committee.
He accused the government of breaking the tradition of sending bills to select committees for scrutiny before they become a law.
Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Vijay Goel said the government was ready for a discussion on the issue and accused the Congress of creating hurdles in the passage of the legislation.
He said the Congress has already supported the bill in the Lok Sabha earlier.
"The Congress and other parties are only playing politics on this issue which is very important for ensuring the rights of married Muslim women," he said.
Hitting back, deputy leader of the Congress in the Rajya Sabha, Anand Sharma said, "It is the government which is doing politics. Nobody is opposing the bill. Let there be legislative scrutiny".
"The government is misleading the people.If the bill has been passed without legislative scrutiny in the Lok Sabha then it should not be passed here without referring to select committee. Rajya Sabha is not a rubber stamp," he said.
Responding to this, Prasad said, "This bill is very important. We want to discuss it here and are ready to listen to any suggestion. Even after bringing the ordinance, there have been incidents of triple talaq till yesterday. It is a question of gender equality...We want to discuss and pass the bill."
Deputy Chairman Harivansh said, "I want to run the House.
We have agreed for a holiday tomorrow. The members should allow the House to function today."
As members continued to create a din, the Deputy Chairman adjourned the House for the day till Wednesday.
The bill was passed in the Lok Sabha on Thursday last.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Kerala court sentences man to life imprisonment for doc's murder in hospital
_vb_42.jpeg)
Kollam (PTI): A teacher convicted in the sensational murder of Dr Vandana Das inside a hospital here was sentenced to life term on Saturday, and the prosecution said it will move an appeal seeking death penalty for the accused. The victim's family also batted for "maximum punishment".
Dr Das was brutally killed inside a taluk hospital in May 2023 by G Sandeep.
Kollam Additional District and Sessions judge P N Vinod sentenced Sandeep to a total of 30 years for various offences under the then Indian Penal Code (IPC) and said that after he serves that period, his life imprisonment for Das' murder will commence.
The court also imposed a fine of Rs 2.35 lakh on the convict.
Though the prosecution had sought death penalty for the accused during the arguments on sentence, the court was of the view that the case does not fall under the rarest-of-rare category to warrant the maximum punishment.
It was also of the view that there was a chance of the convict getting reformed as he told the court that the rest of his life would be one of repentance, the order on sentence said.
"At the same time, I agree with the stand of the prosecution to the effect that the sentence should commensurate with the gravity of the crime and the sentence should not only be reformative, but should also have a deterrent effect."
"In my view, the said objective can be achieved by directing that the term sentences that will be imposed will run consecutively and life sentence that has to be imposed will commence only after the expiration of terms sentences," the judge said.
After the verdict, special public prosecutor (SPP) Prathap G Padickal told reporters outside the court that he will recommend to the prosecution to file an appeal seeking enhancement of the life imprisonment to death penalty.
The victim's father said that the verdict has come as a relief for the family, but that he cannot authoritatively say whether his late daughter has got justice. He indicated his dissatisfaction with the punishment, saying that steps will be taken to seek its enhancement after discussions with the public prosecutor.
Dr Das' mother said that the family can only wish for the maximum punishment and it was up to the court to decide what sentence should be given. She said that the family will go in appeal, but declined to comment on whether her daughter got justice.
She tearfully said that she wants the convict to suffer the same pain that her daughter underwent "as he stabbed her 27 times".
The court on March 17 had convicted Sandeep for various offences under the IPC, including murder, destruction of evidence and wrongful restraint.
It had also held him guilty under the provisions of the Kerala Healthcare Service Persons and Healthcare Service Institutions (Prevention of violence and damage to property) Act 2012.
Sandeep was brought to the taluk hospital by the police for medical treatment during the small hours of May 10, 2023 and he went on a sudden attacking spree using a pair of surgical scissors kept in the room where his leg injury was being dressed.
A school teacher by profession, he had initially attacked the police officers and another person who had accompanied him to the hospital and then turned on the young Dr Das, who could not escape to safety.
She was stabbed several times and later succumbed to her injuries in a private hospital in Thiruvananthapuram where she was rushed following the attack.
Dr Das was a native of the Kaduthuruthy area of Kottayam district and the only child of her parents.
She was a house surgeon at Azeezia Medical College Hospital and was working at the Kottarakkara taluk hospital as part of her training.
Sandeep had called the emergency number 112, claiming that his life was in danger. When local police located him, he was standing close by his home, surrounded by local residents and his relatives, and had a wound on his leg following an alleged quarrel.
He was then taken to the hospital for dressing the wound.
_vb_97.jpeg)
_vb_62.jpeg)