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Journalism of Courage
Soon after Parliamentary Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj patted herself and fellow parliamentarians on the back for the ‘‘harmonious and timely’’ completion of all the business in the Budget Session of Parliament, she was the target of the Opposition’s ire for hurriedly introducing four important Constitution Amendment Bills in the Lok Sabha at the fag-end of the session today.
Irate Opposition MPs staged a walk out in protest against the manner in which the four bills — including the controversial Illegal Migrants Laws (Repealing and Amending) Bill and the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution (Amendment) Bill — were introduced suddenly at the end of the day, though they were not listed in today’s list of business nor circulated in advance for perusal.
While Sushma Swaraj, at the customary end-of-session luncheon press conference, waxed lyrical about the large number of bills passed this session and the steep reduction in the loss of hours due to disruptions compared to previous sessions, Opposition members did not appear to share her enthusiasm on the score.
Instead, some MPs complained that legislations were being ‘‘rushed through’’ and little time was being given to members to speak on important issues. Their complaints reached a pitch when the Deputy Speaker, at around 3.30 pm, took up the ‘‘supplementary list’’ of business which listed four bills for introduction. Both Arun Jaitley (to introduce the Bill on National Judicial Commission) and L.K. Advani (to introduce the remaining three bills, all relating to Assam) were present.
As soon as the supplementary list of business was mentioned, Santosh Mohan Deb (Cong) raised a furore, objecting in particular to the Illegal Migrants Amendment Bill. Asserting that ‘‘the northeast is as volcanic as Kashmir’’, Deb said the Bill had the potential to create havoc in the state and it should not be introduced in a hurry.
He was joined by a number of others including G.M. Banatwala (IUML), V. Radhakrishnan (CPI-M), Jayanat Rongpi (CPI-ML), Raghuvansh Prasad Singh (RJD) and P.K. Bansal (Cong) who protested at the manner in which the House was being taken for granted.
The deputy leader of the Congress and former Speaker, Shivraj Patil, said the aim of the Opposition ‘‘was to cooperate, not to obstruct’’ but introducing the bills at the last minute was ‘‘not correct’’. Sushma Swaraj, using her considerable oratorical and legalistic skills, quoted the rule book to show that Bills could be introduced without the mandatory two days’ notice if the Speaker so allowed.
She also emphasised that the bills were being introduced today so that they could be sent to the Standing Committee for thorough discussions before it was brought again to become law. The government’s aim in introducing the bills was ‘‘not to scuttle a discussion’’. On the contrary, it was aimed at facilitating more detailed discussions, she maintained.
Dissatisfied with her reply, Opposition members staged a walkout and the four bills were introduced one by one, before returning to the agenda listed for the day.
