Centre stifles debate, amends ICWA Act

Preceding the ruling, the House witnessed a heated debate over procedure of introducing, consideration and passing of a Bill, with Congress deputy leader in Lok Sabha Shivraj Patil alleging that Sushma Swaraj may not be conversant with the rules since she had been Parliamentary Affairs Minister for a short time.

Patil, former Speaker, said all Bills after being introduced, and the first reading, have to go to Standing Committee unless the House decides otherwise. Refuting this, Sushma said the issue should have been raised at the Business Advisory Committee meeting and not now after the process was completed.

It was a lesson in Political Science as Patil explained the procedure of passing a Bill in three stages. Sushma said she was well-versed in the rules even before she became an MP 13 years ago. She knew all about passing of Bills rules 33 years ago while studying for a Law degree.

Sayeed initially found himself at a loss to give a ruling as he kept saying he needed to check the records for precedents. Finally he said the Speaker had not referred the Bill to Standing Committee in his wisdom and allowed voting. Replying to the debate, Digvijay said the Government took over the ICWA only after the Standing Committee made such recommendations and as ‘‘things had started deteriorating there after the appointment of a working president’’ in early 1980s.