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Patents Bill gets deferred to the budget session

The government yesterday deferred the move to get the controversial Patents (Amendment) Bill passed in the Lok Sabha since the main Opposition Congress raised procedural objections.

The bill has now been carried over to the Budget session of Parliament for passage in the Lower House. Yesterday was the last day of the winter session.

Yesterday, there was confusion since morning whether the bill, which was adopted in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday night, would be taken up. Industries Minister Sikander Bakht said it would be taken up and adopted by the Lok Sabha before it adjourned sine die.

Bakht also said that though the bill was not listed in the original agenda papers for the day, a supplementary agenda would include it.

A supplementary agenda paper was released in the afternoon, but that too did not mention the bill.

Sources said Congress politicians objected to its passage without the members first studying the bill. "You cannot take the members for granted," a senior Congress politician said at the meeting of floor leaders with Speaker G M C Balayogi in the morning.

Normally, a bill is circulated to members 48 hours before its introduction so that they can plan their strategy regarding amendments to be moved.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Madan Lal Khurana later told a press conference that the bill would be taken up in the Budget session, which will be called a few days ahead of schedule. The session normally begins in the third week of February. The bill needs to be passed before April 1999 as part of the World Trade Organisation convention.

Khurana said the government would not attempt to force any legislation and was prepared for a full discussion in the Lok Sabha. So it was agreed to summon the budget session earlier than usual.

UNI

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