Opp members walk out of IT panel meet on data Bill report; BJP says provisions discussed

The government is expected to introduce the Bill during the ongoing monsoon session of Parliament.

A draft report was circulated among the panel members before the meeting but Opposition members later said that the adoption of such a report would have been a violation of existing rules and also an impropriety since the committee was not privy to the final Bill approved by the Cabinet earlier this month.

Ruling party members, however, pointed out that the committee had already discussed the provisions of the Bill.

After the meeting, senior BJP MP Nishikant Dubey told The Indian Express: “According to Rule 261 of Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha, the committees can pass any decision or report with a majority.”

As Chairman Prataprao Jadhav decided to go for a vote, Opposition members staged a walkout. Those who walked out included CPM’s John Brittas, TMC’s Mahua Moitra and Jawahar Sircar, DMK’s T Sumathy, Congress’s Karti P Chidambaram and TDP’s Jayadev Galla.

Later, Brittas said that in the absence of a substantive Bill, the committee cannot infer and produce a report. He said the Opposition concern was not political in nature but it was “worried about the gross impropriety that would also create a wrong precedent”.

He expressed unhappiness over rushing the report without a proper discussion. “I am at a loss to understand why ruling party members insisted on a division without going into the merits of the arguments we made,” he said.

Brittas submitted a detailed dissent note which he was assured would be part of the main report. Asked about the dissenting points he had raised, he said he only had the option of re-submitting the objections to the draft Bill that was circulated for suggestions from the general public and stakeholders.

“We have already expressed our concerns publicly. In the draft Bill given to us, in at least 18 clauses the government has been delegated, thereby giving vast powers to the government. Further, this will have implications on the Right to Information Act. There are no stipulations made regarding the appointment of the Digital Data Protection Board which is pivotal to the legislation,” he said.