India on the verge of banning controversial Muslim practice of triple talaq

India is on the verge of banning the controversial practice of triple talaq, or instant divorce.

It allows a Muslim man to legally divorce his wife simply by stating the word ‘talaq’ (the Arabic word for ‘divorce’) three times in oral or written form, including email or text message.

Last August, the Indian Supreme Court deemed triple talaq unconstitutional, and now the government is set to ban it outright.

A bill that would ban the practice will be raised in a budget session of parliament in New Delhi on Monday.

The government said it would ‘leave no stone unturned’ in ensuring the passage of the bill and is seeking cross-party consensus.

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Indian president Ram Nath Kovind said he was confident that prime minister Narendra Modi’s government would get the legislation through and ban triple talaq.

The president said: ‘Muslim women’s honour was a victim of political upmanship.

‘Now the country has the opportunity to free them from this situation.

‘My government tabled a bill on triple talaq in parliament and I hope it will become a law soon.

‘After the law comes into force, the Muslim daughter and sister can live a life free of fear.’

Last August, three out of five Supreme Court judges ruled in favour of a ban, calling triple talaq ‘un-Islamic’.