Govt puts off Enemy Property Bill as Opposition objects

At the committee meeting, JD(U)’s Sharad Yadav asked why the government was bringing such a contentious Bill in this short session — which has only 20 working days — and demanded that it be dropped from the agenda of business, sources said.

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“This is a short session. We told the government not to take up contentious Bills like this, on which there is no consensus among parties. The government agreed to our suggestion not to take up the Bill today,” he told The Indian Express. He was supported by members from the Congress, Samajwadi Party and CPI.

Deputy Leader of the Congress in the rajya Sabha Anand Sharma also told the government that there was no consensus on the Bill. “We have reservations on the Enemy Property Act. We conveyed that to the government today in no uncertain terms. This is a sensitive matter. Irrespective of the recommendations of the parliamentary committee, which was not unanimous, the government will have to sit with the Opposition to reach a consensus before this Bill is taken up,” he said.

SP’s Naresh Agrawal and CPI’s D Raja voiced the same opinion. “The Bill will not come up before the House at least for two weeks,” Agrawal said.

After listening to their views, the government was learnt to have assured the Opposition that the Bill would not be brought in a haste. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar and his deputy Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi tried to convince the members about the need for the Bill, but as the Opposition members were unrelenting, they agreed to postpone it.

Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha P J Kurien later informed the House that two hours have been allotted for consideration and passing of the Enemy Property Bill.