Sir — The Triple Talaq Bill in its current form has proved contentious with many people objecting particularly its criminality clause that provides for three year jail term. No doubt, advancing the cause of gender justice is a laudable objective but making a method of divorce a crime is not desirable. Far from bolstering Muslim women’s rights, the Bill puts the women in a precarious condition. With husbands sent to jail, their future will become uncertain. Obviously, a jailed man, unless he is rich, cannot provide maintenance and subsistence allowance for his wife and children. Sending the man to jail rather defeats the objective of the Bill.
In Islam, marriage is a civil contract, the violation of which cannot, by any stretch of imagination, be treated a crime punishable with imprisonment. The Supreme Court only invalidated triple talaq, it did not criminalise it. Criminalising it by legislation does not go to advance the cause of women who continue to be wives despite the illegal pronouncement. There is no guarantee that once the jail term of three years is over, the released husband will rediscover his love for her. The Government is well advised to drop the penal provision prescribing a jail term of three years which is no better than the dissolution of the marriage for three years. Saying that a social reform must be brought about in a just and acceptable manner does not make us apologists for instant triple talaq or saboteurs of the Bill.