Ministerial panel to consider legislation to end triple talaq

New Delhi: The government has set up a ministerial committee to consider a legislation to put an end to instantaneous triple talaq, the Muslim way of divorce which is said to be still in practice despite the Supreme Court striking it down.

Government functionaries, who did not wish to be named, said that the Centre was considering to bring a suitable legislation or amend existing penal provisions, which would make instantaneous triple talaq an offence.

As the law stands today, a victim of ‘talaq-e-biddat’ would have no option but to approach the police for redressal of her grievance as a Muslim clergy would be of no assistance to her. Even police are helpless as no action can be taken against the husband in the absence of punitive provisions in the law, they explained.

The ministerial committee has been constituted to frame a law, and the government plans to bring this legislation in the Winter Session of Parliament, the functionaries said. In August, the Supreme Court struck down the controversial Islamic practice of instant divorce or ‘talaq- e-biddat’ as arbitrary and unconstitutional.