Lok Sabha adjourned till Tuesday. (File)
The Lok Sabha session adjourned till Tuesday after passing the Personal Laws (Amendment) Bill. The Bill amends the Divorce Act for Christians, Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act, the Hindu Marriage Act, the Special Marriage Act and the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act and strikes out leprosy as a ground for seeking a divorce. Even as most of the MPs were in favour of the Bill to be passed, AIMIM President Asaduddin Owaisi opposed it saying that if anyone conceals a disease like leprosy, it is a case of fraud in a contract of marriage. Hence, it should remain a ground for divorce.
The political furore over the Rafale deal continued in Lok Sabha on Monday with Union Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman terming the doubts raised by the Congress over her statement on Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) contracts as “incorrect and misleading”. “I would like to set all doubts to rest… the doubts raised in this regard are incorrect and misleading,” she told the House. The minister’s remarks came after the Congress on Sunday alleged accused her of “lying” in Parliament that government orders worth Rs one lakh crore were provided to HAL.
Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, while addressing reporters, hit back at the minister and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying, “Just give me 15 minutes with PM Modi and I’ll prove it. Iss chowkidar ne hi chori ki hai. Nirmala Sitharaman has lied in the Parliament. The strategy of the government is to weaken HAL, do not give it money, destroy India’s strategic capability and give “gift” to Anil Ambani. The Congress is trying to protect HAL and will not allow Rs 30,000 crores of people’s money to be given to Ambani.”
Congress chief Rahul Gandhi outside Lok Sabha
Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan on Monday suspended three AIADMK MPs and one TDP lawmaker for two days for disrupting proceedings of the House, PTI reported. The members started their protests as soon as the House met this morning, forcing Mahajan to adjourn proceedings.
AIAMDK MPs K N Ramachandran, P Venugopal and K K Gopal were protesting over proposed construction of a dam by Karnataka on the Cauvery river while TDP MP Naramalli Sivaprasad, whose party has been raising the issue of special status to Andhra Pradesh, played a Tamil song in the house, reported PTI.
The Personal Laws (Amendment) Bill 2018, which has been passed in Lok Sabha on Monday, amends the Divorce Act for Christians, Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act, the Hindu Marriage Act, the Special Marriage Act and the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act and strikes out leprosy as a ground for seeking a divorce.
Lok Sabha session adjourned till Tuesday.
The Personal Laws (Amendment) Bill 2018 was passed in Lok Sabha.
AIMIM President Asaduddin Owaisi opposed The Personal Laws (Amendment) Bill 2018, saying that if anyone conceals a disease like leprosy, this in itself is a fraud in a contract of marriage. So it should remain a ground for divorce. "Do not interfere in Muslim personal law. Marriage is a contract in Muslim law. So any kind of concealment is a ground for disease in any Muslim or Islamic country," he said.
Rajya Sabha adjourned till 11am on Tuesday.
Amid protests by SP and Congress on CBI sand mining case and Rafale respectively, proceedings in Lok Sabha has been adjourned till 2.30 pm.
"Modi government has paid nearly Rs 20,000 crore in advance for Rafale to Dassault Aviation without delivery of a single aircraft. On the other hand, HAL has not been paid Rs 15,700 crore for the aircraft/helicopters already delivered. This will rise to Rs 20,000 crore by March this year. Against an annual budget requirement of HAL of Rs 19,334 crore during 2018-19, only Rs 6,415 crore has been allotted, which is 33 per cent," Rahul alleged.
Meanwhile, the government is expected to table the final report of the joint parliamentary committee on the Citizenship Amendment Bill in Lok Sabha today. Protests against the bill, which essentially proposes to make minority (or non-Muslim) immigrants from three neighbouring countries, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan, eligible for Indian citizenship, have erupted in Guwahati.
"Sitharaman spoke for two-and-a-half hours, but did not say anything worthwhile. She is more like Modi's spokesperson. The PM is scared of the Lok Sabha, he is scared of being questioned. That's why he doesn't come to the House," Rahul added.
Rahul added, "The strategy of the government is to weaken HAL, do not give it money, destroy India's strategic capability and give "gift" to Anil Ambani. The Congress is trying to protect HAL and will not allow Rs 30,000 crores of people's money to be given to Ambani."
Continuing his address to the media, Rahul said, "I am again requesting the Defence minister and PM Modi to answer "did the Air Force and the Defence ministry senior officers object to your interference in Rafale deal?" Please answer in a "Yes or No."
Continuing his attack on the government, Rahul told reporters, "Just give me 15 minutes with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and I'll prove it. Iss chowkidar ne hi chori ki hai. Nirmala Sitharaman has lied in the Parliament. She brought up the background argument unnecessarily to divert the topic. Nobody answered me when I asked why nobody seemed to have any problem with PM Modi's interference."
Continuing his attack on the Congress chief, Ravi Shankar said it is clear that middlemen were pushing the Congress to go for Eurocopters against the Rafale jets in 2011. "Rahul Gandhi can't deny his relations with Christian Michel," the minister said, referring to the alleged middleman in the AgustaWestland case.
Hitting out at Rahul Gandhi over his allegations on the fighter jet deal against the Centre, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters, "Why is it that the leading family appears in documents after documents, be it the AgustaWestland or Rafale deal. The entire campaign of falsehood unleashed by both Rahul and his party is false and based on commercial interests."
Taking to Twitter, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi said, "That HAL doesn’t have enough cash to pay salaries, isn’t surprising. Anil Ambani has Rafale. He now needs HAL’s brilliant talent pool to deliver on his contracts. Without salaries, HAL’s best engineers and scientists will be forced to move to AA’s venture."
Responding to Sitharaman's statement on Rafale deal, Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge said, "We are demanding a JPC probe into the Rafale deal. HAL had earlier said it was cash-strapped. HAL was unable to pay salaries to their employees." Kharge also told Sitharaman, "Don't quote wrong facts in the House."
Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan has suspended the members of AIADMK and TDP for disrupting proceedings.
Amid an uproar over the Rafale deal, Lok Sabha was once again adjourned till 12.30 pm.
Speaking in Lok Sabha on Rafale deal, Union Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said, "My statement in Parliament is correct." The minister's clarification came after Congress chief Rahul Gandhi accused her of providing false statements on contracts given to defence public sector unit Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL).
"The Rafale Deal and the CBI enquiries into various cases must be raised in Rajya Sabha today," Azad added.
Speaking outside Parliament, Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said, "BJP is sensing defeat this year. The government is misusing the Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Investigation. The government has targetted every opposition party. The democracy is under threat; this kind of a dictatorship will not work in India." On the Rafale deal, he said, "The Rafale scam has perhaps become the biggest scam in the world."
On the Citizenship Amendment Bill, senior Assam minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said, "Without the Bill, we are surrendering ourselves to the philosophy of Jinnah. This is a fight between Jinnah's legacy and India's legacy. We will see if the Bill has provision to welcome Bangladeshis, but I am sure it doesn't have the provision."
On the Triple Talaq Bill, Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said, "The Triple Talaq Bill is listed in Rajya Sabha. It is not a question of the government's reputation. The Bill is meant to ensure justice for women, so everyone should support it. We all must help in getting the Bill passed."
Trinamool Congress has given a notice under Rule 267 in Rajya Sabha to hold a discussion on ‘Parliament being bypassed and legislative scrutiny being ignored‘, today.
Rajya Sabha has been adjourned till 2 pm.
Lok Sabha has been adjourned till 12 pm.
The Centre is expected to table the final report of the joint parliamentary committee on the Citizenship Amendment Bill in Lok Sabha today. On the other hand, the Triple Talaq Bill is likely to be taken up today in Rajya Sabha. Follow this space for all latest updates on Parliament proceedings.