The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019 is an Act of the Parliament of India criminalising triple talaq. In August 2017, the Supreme Court of India declared triple talaq, which enables Muslim men to instantly divorce their wives, to be unconstitutional. The minority opinion suggested the Parliament to consider appropriate legislation governing triple talaq in the Muslim community. In December 2017, citing the Supreme Court judgment and cases of triple talaq in India, the government introduced The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2017. The bill proposed to make triple talaq in any form—spoken, in writing, or by electronic means—illegal and void. Punishment for breach of the law was proposed to include up to three years imprisonment for the husband pronouncing triple talaq. The bill was passed by the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Parliament of India, on the same day, but was stalled by the opposition in the Rajya Sabha, the upper house. The bill was reintroduced and passed by the Lok Sabha and by the Rajya Sabha in July 2019. Consequently, the bill received assent of the President of India. The act also entitles an aggrieved woman to demand a maintenance for her dependent children. It was subsequently notified as law in the same month. The acts stands to be retrospectively effective from 19 September 2018. However, even after five years since Supreme Court’s invalidation of triple talaq, the women petitioners who were abandoned by their husbands, continue to live a life of half-divorcees. However, Muslim men are still allowed to be polygamous and can also give a divorce easily by paying paltry sums. History The 2017 bill was passed by the Lok Sabha on 27 December 2018. However, in the Rajya Sabha the opposition demanded it to be sent to the Standing Committee. As the bill stood not passed in the parliamentary session, an ordinance which had made the bill operative, expired on 22 January 2019. The government re-promulgated an identical bill on 10 January 2019. This bill was passed in the Lok Sabha but was again stalled in the Rajya Sabha. The bill lapsed again when the Parliamentary session adjourned sine die in April 2019. The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Ordinance, 2019 was to expire on 29 August 2019, six weeks after start of parliamentary session, post the 2019 Indian general elections. The government introduced a