India’s Cabinet Approves Ordinance to Make Triple Talaq as Punishable Offense

India’s union cabinet has approved an ordinance to make the practice of instant divorce- ‘triple talaq’ a penal offense, said Indian law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Wednesday (19).

The minister added that his government was forced to take the new move as ‘triple talaq’ annulled by India’s top court is being practiced unabated in the country.

‘Triple Talaq’ is an instant divorce procedure being practiced in the Muslim community. The term, Talaq is an Arabic term which means divorce.

Speaking on the ordinance cleared, the law minister added that a woman or her blood relative will have to register a complaint before a local police station to make the offense as cognizable. A compromise can also be reached before the magistrate after the affected woman agrees to it as the offense is compoundable.

The minister described the practice of ‘triple talaq’ as barbaric and inhuman and added that nearly 22 countries in the world have regulated the practice.

India’s top court, supreme court ruled the practice of triple talaq as illegal in 2017.

However, the Indian government wanted to make it as a non-bailable offence including a prison term of up to three years, amid protests by the Muslim women.