New Delhi, Dec 31: Rajya Sabha was adjourned till January 2 after opposition party members created a ruckus over the triple talaq bill that was tabled on Monday. The opposition demanded that the bill be sent to a select committee for further scrutiny.
The bill was passed by the Lok Sabha on Thursday and was scheduled for consideration in Rajya Sabha on Monday. But, as expected, it faced stiff challenges in the lower house where the BJP is not in majority.
Opposition parties, led by Congress, came together to make their discontent against the bill known in Rajya Sabha. They demanded that the legislation be sent to a select committee for further scrutiny.
Leader of opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Ghulam Nabi Azad, said the bill is 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.
Meanwhile, the government accused the Congress and others of playing politics on the matter.
Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs, Vijay Goel, said the government was ready for a discussion on the issue and accused Congress of creating hurdles in the passage of the legislation. He said Congress had 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.
According to reports, AIADMK, Samajwadi Party, Telugu Desam Party (TDP), Rashtriya Janata Dal, Aam Aadmi Party, Nationalist Congress Party, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Indian National Congress, Bahujan Samaj Party, Communist Party of India, CPI (M) withdrew their support in turning the bill into law.
Amid the din created by the opposition members as well as AIADMK members protesting in the well of the House over the Cauvery issue, deputy chairperson Harivansh Narayan Singh adjourned the house for 15 minutes as the stalemate persisted over the Muslim women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) bill, 2018. It was later announced that the house will be adjourned till January 2.
The bill proposes to make the practice of instant triple talaq a punishable offence under the IPC with three years of jail term.
