Islamabad - Council of Islamic Ideology Chairman Dr Qibla Ayaz said that the act of issuing three divorces instantly in one sitting would be declared a punishable offence in Pakistan.

In an interview with BBC, he said that recommendations had been prepared in this regard and would be presented before the parliament soon.

Dr Ayaz, who was appointed the chairman of the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) by the Law Ministry in November last year, said, “We are preparing a bill to be presented before the Law Ministry which will suggest punishment for the action. The act of instantly issuing three divorces in one sitting will be declared prohibited and a punishable offence.”

He said that women are important part of social activities and there was no prohibition on their becoming part of economic activities.

To a question regarding declaring DNA concrete evidence, he said that scientists and Fuqaha would be consulted in this respect.

Sahibzada Sajidur Rehman, Khursheed Nadeem, Hafiz Fazlur Rahim and Allah Bakhsh Kalyar were among the members of the CII. The purpose of the establishment of CII was to endorse the laws that are in accordance with the Quran and Sunnah. It was established in 1962 by then President Ayyub Khan.

Maulana Raghib Hussain Naimi, Qari Abdur Rashid, Ghulam Hussain Sialwi, Pir Rooh-ul-Hasnain Moin and Allama Arif Hussain Wahidi were also appointed as members of the body.

The council consists of 20 members. Ten members of the body had completed their tenure last year.

Earlier, the Supreme Court of India by a majority verdict in August last year ruled that the practice of divorce through triple talaq among Muslims is "void", "illegal" and "unconstitutional". The apex court by 3:2 verdict held that the triple talaq is against the basic tenets of Quran.

While Chief Justice JS Khehar and Justice S Abdul Nazeer were in favour of putting on hold for six months the practice of triple talaq, asking the government to come out with a law in this regard, Justices Kurian Joseph, RF Nariman and UU Lalit held it as violative of the Constitution.