Triple talaq now a criminal offence in India

India's government has decided to make the practice of instant triple talaq a punishable offence through an executive order after the law failed to pass in parliament in August.

Under the proposed law, Muslim men who end their marriage using instant divorce, or talaq-e-biddat, will now face jail term of up to three years and a fine.

The country's Supreme Court last year banned "triple talaq" practised by some in the Muslim community, saying it was "unconstitutional".

Triple talaq is the practice under which a Muslim man can divorce his wife by simply uttering "talaq" three times.

It is prevalent among India's Muslim community majority of whom follow the Hanafi Islamic school of law.

This mode of divorce is not universal among Muslims across the world, as many other Islamic schools of thought prefer the divorce process to be deferred, in many cases over a period of three months.

Source: Al Jazeera News