The top court issued notices to Union ministries of law and justice and minority affairs as well as the National Commission of Women after taking note of the plea of Delhi-based woman Nafisa Khan challenging the practice of polygamy and 'nikah halala', and said that the matter will be taken up a five-judge Constitution bench.
The bill will replace an ordinance issued in February by the previous Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance government.
When the Muslim Personal Law Board promises 'advisories' and nikahnamas to the Supreme Court, one has to remember not only its recent campaign against any change in Muslim personal law, but also its past record of inaction on the question of triple talaq, says Jyoti Punwani.
The panel suggested changes in laws relating to marriage, divorce, alimony, and marriageable age for men and women.
''Laws are made for every citizen to get justice.' 'If there is abuse of law, then the law will have its own course correction mechanism also.'
Ultimately, whether the UP ordinance is struck down by the courts or not, it will be the courage of young Hindu and Muslim women and men that will act as a foil to the UP police-cum-mobs who will be out to get them.
India has previously rejected the US state department's annual human rights report on the country, saying they continue to be based on "misinformation and flawed understanding".
Rajya Sabha also rejected an opposition sponsored motions to send the bill to a select committee of the House and for making triple talaq a civil offence with 100 votes against it as compared to 84 in favour.
Communal tension has been brewing in Purola and some other towns of Uttarkashi district after two men, one of them Muslim, allegedly tried to abduct a Hindu girl on May 26.
The court listed the matter for further hearing on August 18.
The term 'love jihad' is used by right-wing groups to allege a ploy by Muslim men to lure Hindu women into religious conversion through marriage.
Parliamentary affairs minister Ananth Kumar also attacked the Congress, which had not opposed the bill in Lok Sabha but voiced its strong opposition in the Upper House.
It is unusual in democratic countries two decades into the 21st century for laws to become regressive instead of progressive. But that is clearly what is happening in India today and more of this is ahead, asserts Aakar Patel.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud, however, said that the National Investigation Agency may continue its investigation in the matter.
The law minister said 20 Muslim countries in the world, including Pakistan and Malaysia, have banned the triple talaq. "Why can't a secular India do it?" he asked.
'In the name of pluralism-secularism, the kind of politics that was pursued revealed to many that it was basically a favour to Muslim conservatism and communalism -- a politics of minority-ism, rather than of secularism.' 'This is how significant sections of Hindus have been made to loathe the very idea of Indian secularism by now,' says Mohammad Sajjad.
'My religion is great and it has given a lot of rights to women, but these intermediaries are interpreting it wrongly and ruining it.' 'I have great faith in our judiciary. I am sure they will see through the drama of men.'
The bench had made it clear that it would examine whether the practice of triple talaq among Muslims is fundamental to their religion.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to entertain a plea seeking to prevent a 'mahapanchayat' called by Hindu outfits in Uttarakhand and registration of an FIR against hate speeches allegedly targeting members of a particular community.
'The Centre has brought an ordinance on triple talaq. Its duration is of six months. If it is made into a law, then we will challenge this in the Supreme Court.'
Is Minister of Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi opening another minefield with the introduction of mandatory pre-nuptial agreement before marriage or will this proposed legislation help streamline the dissolution process of a marriage given the spiralling divorce rates in our country? Rashme Sehgal speaks to lawyers on the issue.
"It is a historic day. We are making history today," Law Minister said.
Amid outrage over the menace of forcing minor Muslim girls into wedlock, police have arrested three persons, including the mother of a United Arab Emirates national, who forcibly married a minor girl in Kozhikode, Kerala.
When the bench asked Sibal 'shouldn't we hear the matter', he replied, 'Yes. You shouldn't.'
Why not triple talaq line to Sabarimala, Yechury asks Centre
While the proposed law will remain "non-bailable'', the accused can approach a magistrate even before trial to seek bail.
Under the draft law, triple talaq in any form -- spoken, in writing or by electronic means such as email, SMS and WhatsApp -- would be bad or illegal and void.
The draft 'Muslim Women Protection of Rights on Marriage Bill' was considered by the Union cabinet which gave its nod, the functionary said.
The most strident criticism of UP's anti-conversion ordinance has come from the judiciary with several retired Supreme Court and high court judges having described it as being violative of Article 14 (Right to Equality), 15 (Prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion), 21 (Right to Life) and 25 (Freedom of conscience) of the Constitution, points out Rashme Sehgal.
'I welcome Droupadi Murmu as the first Adivasi woman President of India, but her track record has not been good as a politician and governor of Jharkhand when it came to helping Adivasis,' points out activist Gladson Dungdung.
AG Mukul Rohatgi led the Indian delegation at the UN Human Rights Council.
Minister of State for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Ansari believes a national debate on a Uniform Civil Code is a must. 'The need of the hour is to debate this issue at length in order to create a consensus,' Ansari tells Rediff.com, adding, 'Such a debate must take place at the grassroot level. We must understand all the divergent viewpoints before any draft can be prepared.'
A Muslim woman, who was divorced by her husband through a phone call from Dubai, has challenged the Muslim practices of polygamy, triple talaq (talaq-e-bidat) and nikah halala, leading the Supreme Court to seek response from the Centre on her plea on Friday.
'Our case should act as a warning. It is high time change comes to society. This is not the way to treat a woman. I don't want any other woman to have a fate like mine.'
Some of her best films are not available on streaming platforms, but Deepa Gahlot looks at her Hindi cinema oeuvre on OTT.
Jamida K is the first Indian Muslim woman to lead the Friday prayer.
'More so, if it is their daughters wanting to marry someone of their own choosing.' 'Children are seen as property. That's why the problem is so messy.' For young Indians wanting to marry outside their religion, expressing their right to love and live as they choose is becoming increasingly hazardous.
It is mischievous to imply that the proposed bill to grant citizenship to persecuted Hindus, Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists from other nations implies that Muslims and Christians are not Indians, says Sanjeev Nayyar.
Amid noisy scenes, Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad introduced the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill 2017 for discussion and passage, but pandemonium broke out in the Upper House with the opposition creating an uproar and the BJP countering it vociferously.
'The judicial procedure was influenced which led to no convictions in the anti-Sikh riots of 1984'
