Land Acquisition Ordinance: Govt set to prorogue RS
New version of the Land Ordinance to include 9 amendments.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu
The countdown for a re-promulgation of the Land Acquisition Ordinance began on Thursday after Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu called on President Pranab Mukherjee. The move implies a prorogation of the Rajya Sabha before the re-promulgation of the ordinance.
“The re-promulgation would happen closer to the April 5 deadline,” official sources said, adding that the intention would be to provide the ordinance with the maximum life. Though the government still has 10 days to complete the whole exercise, it wants to put everything in place well before April 2, when the national executive of the BJP begins its session in Bangalore.
As per the established practice, the Parliamentary Affairs Minister, after obtaining the approval of the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs to prorogue both Houses or either of them, conveys the government decision to the Secretary-General of the House concerned. He, in turn, sends a note on the basis of this communication to the President for his approval.
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The new version of the ordinance will include the nine amendments , which were brought in by the government at the time of the passage of the bill in Lok Sabha, which sought to replace the executive order. The Cabinet on Wednesday gave its ex post facto approval to the amendments.
Though on the face of it, the government has adopted a conciliatory note to get members of Sangh Parivar, NDA constituents and other parties on board by tweaking certain features of the bill, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, according to sources, is firm on pushing it through. They said there is no question of a rollback, for, it would amount to a major climbdown in the face of the opposition.
An ordinance has a lifespan of six months, but it is valid for six weeks from the date from which the next session of Parliament begins. Simply put, a bill corresponding to the ordinance has to be passed by Parliament within the six-week time-frame to sustain it.
The government had promulgated the ordinance on land acquisition on December 31 last year. Since The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Bill, 2015, meant for replacing the ordinance, has been passed only by Lok Sabha, a re-promulgation, preceded by a prorogation of Rajya Sabha, is the only course left for the government. A prorogation under Article 85(2) of the Constitution means the termination of a session. Usually, a prorogation follows the adjournment of both Houses or either of them sine die, but it is not a pre-requisite.
As per the original schedule, the two Houses would be in session from April 20 to May 8 after a month-long recess. The sources said the Lok Sabha will have to pass a bill corresponding to the new ordinance all over again. Thereafter, it will go to Rajya Sabha. Given the ruling coalitions’s lack of a majority-support in Rajya Sabha, it may be defeated in a floor-test. “That would enable us to convene a joint sitting to get the bill passed,” sources said.
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