Bills on Triple Talaq, transgender rights listed for Winter Session

A bill to provide Muslim women the right to seek maintenance from the ex-spouse after divorce and another aimed to end discrimination against the transgenders, among other proposed legislations, are listed for taking up during Parliament's winter session starting on Friday.

At least 14 new bills are set to be introduced during the session, according to a list compiled by think tank PRS Legislative Research.

Here are some of these bills:

* The Financial Resolution and Deposit Insurance Bill -- The legislation will lead to establishment of a Resolution Corporation, which will monitor financial firms, anticipate risk of failure and take corrective action, according to the brief of the bill. The Resolution Corporation, which will be a regulator for the financial sector, will categorise based on failure risk, and resolutions, which will depend on the categorisation, include options like merger, transferring assets, or liquidation. The bill has been criticised for diluting the Reserve Bank of India's role, and concerns have been raised over the status of money deposited in accounts of customers in case a bank collapses.

* The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Bill -- The Government of India has promulgated an ordinance to amend the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016. The Code defines a resolution applicant as a person who submits a resolution plan to an insolvency professional. The ordinance amends this provision to define a resolution applicant as a person who submits a resolution plan after receiving an invite by the insolvency professional to do so.

* The Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2016 -- The bill, which was introduced in the Lok Sabha in November 2016 and sent to a Standing Committee, prohibits commercial surrogacy, while allowing altruistic surrogacy. The bill bars foreign nationals from having a baby through surrogacy in India and also bars any financial transaction for surrogacy. As per the bill, the surrogate mother has to be a relative of the married couple who wants a child, and fulfil certain conditions for it. The Standing Committee, in its report, has suggested several amendments, which include allowing compensation to the surrogate mother, and also points out possible implications of the surrogate mother being a close relative.

* The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2016 -- defines a transgender person as one who is partly female or male; or a combination of female and male; or neither female nor male. In addition, the person's gender must not match the gender assigned at birth, and includes trans-men or trans-women persons with intersex variations and gender queers. It also requires a transgender person to get a certificate for this from the District Magistrate on the recommendation of a screening committee. A Standing Committee that examined the bill has said the definition given in the bill is against global norms.

* The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2017 -- The bill has been popularly called a bill on 'Triple Talaq', a form of divorce orally among the Muslims, and according to government sources has provision for punishment for such form of divorce. According to PRS Legislative Research, the bill will give women the right to seek maintenance in case of Triple Talaq.

* The Representation of the People (Amendment) Bill, 2017 -- The bill will allow for proxy voting by overseas electors.

* The Specific Relief (Amendment) Bill, 2017 -- The bill amends the Specific Relief Act, 1963, to simplify procedures for ease of doing business. A five-member expert committee was formed by the government last year to review the Act and suggest changes to remove bottlenecks in the execution of contract-based infrastructure development, public private partnerships and other public projects. 

* Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, 2016 -- The bill is presently under examination by a Standing Committee which is supposed to submit its report on the first day of the winter session.

* Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill, 2013 -- The bill, which has been passed by the Rajya Sabha but is pending in the Lok Sabha, makes bribe-giving an offence and also modifies the definition of taking a bribe.