14.2.19

Citizenship, talaq bills set to lapse

The contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Bill and the one to ban triple talaq are among more than half a dozen bills that are set to lapse with the last session of the 16th Lok Sabha coming to an end.

These bills were passed by the LS, but could not sail through in the Rajya Sabha. Only bills first introduced in the RS and pending there don’t lapse with the dissolution of the LS. Bills passed by the LS and pending in the Upper House lapse.

The Citizenship Bill provides for granting Indian citizenship to Hindus, Jains, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Parsis from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan after seven years of residence in India instead of 12 years. There has been strong opposition to the bill in the north-east.

Similarly, the opposition parties had been up against the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, popularly known as the triple talaq bill, which makes the practice a penal offence and also has provision of a jail term for a man for divorcing his wife.

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