THE HINDU Editorial Vocabulary- January 8, 2018 - Topic 1

On triple talaq bill

Re-examine the Bill

The winter session of Parliament saw more political positioning than appraisal of a legislation to make instant triple talaq a criminal offence. With the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill pending in the Rajya Sabha, the best option would be to refer it to a select committee to help bring about a consensus on how to address the problem of talaq-e-biddat, as there is no serious opposition to the principle that it is morally abhorrent and legally impermissible. 

The core question is whether resorting to an illegal and arbitrary form of divorce should necessarily lead to a prison term for the offending husband. A three-year prison term, besides a fine, also raises the issue of proportionality. The Opposition has raised three concerns: whether a civil wrong, mainly a breach of a marriage contract in an arbitrary manner, ought to be treated as a crime; whether it is not a contradiction of sorts for the law to jail a husband for pronouncing instant talaq and also mandate that he pay a subsistence allowance to the wife; and whether making it a cognizable and non-bailable offence would lead to it being misused against Muslim men. Further, some see an internal contradiction in the way the law is sought to be framed. On the one hand it says instant triple talaq in any form is void, thereby declaring that the marriage continues to subsist; but it also talks of issues such as the custody of children and maintenance, which would arise only after a divorce. These are valid concerns and cannot be dismissed by the BJP as arguments aimed to sabotage the Bill.

The Bill is now in the Rajya Sabha, where the BJP and its allies do not have a majority. Some of its key allies, such as the AIADMK, the Telugu Desam Party and the Biju Janata Dal, are against the penal provision. The Congress, the main Opposition party, let the Bill sail through in the Lok Sabha, but has taken the position that referring it to a parliamentary committee may help remove some lacunae. Initially the party appeared to question the prescription of a jail term, but it has raised a new question. It wants to know whether the government would take care of the sustenance of the woman concerned if her husband is jailed for uttering triple talaq. The dilemma before the Congress is that it cannot be seen as reprising the role it had played over 30 years ago in the Shah Bano episode, when it brought in legislation to scupper a Supreme Court verdict in favour of a Muslim woman’s claim for maintenance. However, hasty legislation passed in the commotion of a divided House may not help the cause. A sound legal framework to deal with all issues arising from instant talaq ought to be crafted after deeper consideration.

Vocabulary

Appraisal: an act of assessing something or someone.

Example: Treatment begins with a thorough appraisal of the patient's condition

Synonyms: assessment, evaluation, estimation, judgment, rating, gauging

Offence: a breach of a law or rule; an illegal act.

Example: Neither offense violates any federal law

Synonyms: crime, illegal/unlawful act, misdemeanor, breach of the law

Antonyms: defence, defending team, defense

Consensus: general agreement.

Example: A consensus of opinion among judges

Synonyms: agreement, harmony, concurrence, accord, unity, unanimity

Abhorrent: inspiring disgust and loathing; repugnant.

Example: Racial discrimination was abhorrent to us all

Synonyms: detestable, hateful, loathsome, despicable, abominable

Antonyms: inoffensive

Impermissible: too bad to be allowed.

Example: The prosecution made impermissible use of the testimony

Synonyms: banned, barred, forbidden, interdicted, outlawed

Antonyms: allowable, permissible, admissible

Breach: an act of breaking or failing to observe a law, agreement, or code of conduct.

Example: A breach of confidence

Synonyms: contravention, violation, infringement, infraction, transgression

Contradiction: a combination of statements, ideas, or features of a situation that are opposed to one another.

Example: The proposed new system suffers from a set of internal contradictions

Synonyms: absurdity, demonstration, nonsense, paradox, sophism

Antonyms: axiom, truism

Cognizable: perceptible; clearly identifiable.

Example: The bank has reiterated that ‘no cognisable impact’ is anticipated in the financial markets on account of the dollar outflow.

Synonyms: cognoscible, knowable, cognisable

Subsist: maintain or support oneself, especially at a minimal level.

Example: Thousands of refugees subsist on international handouts

Synonyms: survive, live, stay alive, exist, eke out an existence, support oneself

Antonyms: appear, have the appearance, have the semblance, look

Lacunae: an unfilled space or interval; a gap.

Example: The journal has filled a lacuna in Middle Eastern studies

Synonyms: space, coffer, blank shell, blank, dummy

Prescription: a recommendation that is authoritatively put forward.

Example: Effective prescriptions for sustaining rural communities

Synonyms: method, measure, recommendation, suggestion

Sustenance: food and drink regarded as a source of strength; nourishment.

Example: Poor rural economies turned to potatoes for sustenance

Synonyms: nourishment, food, nutriment, nutrition, provisions, provender