Lok Sabha on Friday passed the Finance Bill 2023 with 64 official amendments, including the one that seeks withdrawal of long-term tax benefits on certain categories of debt mutual funds and another for setting up the GST Appelate Tribunal. The Finance Bill that gives effect to tax proposals for fiscal year starting April 1 was passed without a discussion amidst ruckus by opposition members demanding a JPC (Joint Parliamentary Committee) probe into the allegations against the Adani group of companies. While moving the bill for passage and consideration, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman also announced the setting up of a committee under finance secretary to look into pension issues of government employees.
Addressing a joint press conference of opposition leaders at the Constitution Club after a 'Tiranga March' from Parliament House to Vijay Chowk, he said the government's intention was to get the Budget Session washed out.
'Under this amendment, in any dispute over Waqf properties, the Waqf Board cannot approach the court.' 'This is very surprising because the government instead of protecting Waqf properties they are snatching it away and not allowing them to go to court.' 'The third biggest landowner in India is the Waqf Board after the Indian Army and Indian Railways.'
Former telecom minister and Dravid Munetra Kazhagam politician A Raja has threatened to start a hunger strike unless he is allowed to appear before the Joint Parliamentary Committee that is probing alleged irregularities in the allocation of 2G spectrum and licences during his ministerial tenure in 2008.
With the figure of Rs 1.76 lakh crore loss in 2G spectrum allocation being disputed, Comptroller and Auditor General Vinod Rai and other officials of the government auditor will be asked to appear before the Joint Parliamentary Committee looking into the issue.
Parliament remained paralysed for the sixth day in a row on Monday due to protests from rival sides.
The United Progressive Alliance is seriously considering increasing the strength of the proposed Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on 2G scam from 21 to 30 members to accommodate more parties, but it is in no mood to expand its scope of the JPC to cover Commonwealth Games (CWG) fiasco, the Adarsh Society scam and the cancelled ISRO S-band spectrum sale.
The government convened a meeting of UPA allies in the wake of persisting opposition demand for JPC into 2G spectrum allocation, an issue which has paralysed Parliament turning the winter session into a virtual washout.
The SEBI and the RBI will look into it. Let their reports come in, BJP MP Mahesh Jethmalani said.
Dr Murali Manohar Joshi, chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, has said that the constitution of a Joint Parliamentary Committee to probe the 2G spectrum scam would in no way hamper the job of the PAC that is investigating the massive scam right now.He was reacting to the statement made by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee that once the JPC was announced, the ongoing probe by PAC will amount to duplication of work.
According to the current plan in Congress party quarters to end the stand-off on a parliamentary probe into the telecom scam, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is likely to make a statement in Parliament on Tuesday, a day after it convenes, asking the Speaker to form a Joint Parliamentary Committee on the subject.By the rules, Speaker Meira Kumar will authorise this. A JPC generally has two-thirds of its members from the Lok Sabha and the rest from the Rajya Sabha.
The Centre for Science and Environment which alleged that soft drinks brands in India contain high levels of pesticides, is scheduled to make a detailed presentation before the Joint Parliamentary Committee which may meet on October 9 and 10.
Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar on Friday sought to bring the curtain down on the turf war between the Public Accounts Committee and the Joint Parliamentary Committee, asking the two bodies to work in close cooperation and harmony with each other.
"The Bhartiya Janata Party wants to use the Joint Parliamentary Committee as the political tool. It's the issue of ego. It's a political demand so the Congress is not agreeing to it," says Janardhan Dwivedi, chairman of media cell of the Congress, while talking exclusively to rediff.com about why Congress is not agreeing to a JPC to look into allegations related to the allotment of 2G spectrum.
The Shiv Sena has turned down ally Bharatiya Janata Party's offer of a seat in the Joint Parliamentary Committee on 2G Spectrum scam as a multi-national company owned by one of its Rajya Sabha members is allegedly a beneficiary of the contract, sources said.
If the prime minister can say all kinds of things against India, why is it a crime if Rahul Gandhi does so, Kharge said.
The House, which was briefly adjourned in the morning, will now meet at 11 am on March 13 after recess.
Bharatiya Janata Party members on Wednesday walked out of a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) meeting on the 2G scam, dubbing it as a 'kangaroo court' following differences on the issue of calling Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to depose before it.
Addressing a press conference in the Parliament complex on Friday, Janata Dal President Sharad Yadav said it was becoming increasingly difficult to understand why the government of India was running away from ordering a Joint Parliamentary Probe into the 2G spectrum scam.
Department of Company Affairs on Wednesday said it has set up a five-member Task Force to initiate action within six months on the recommendations of the report of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on the stock market scam in 2001.
The ruling front and the opposition members are at loggerheads over the Adani issue and the disqualification of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi from the Lower House.
The final report of the Joint Parliamentary Committee looking into last year's stock scam and the temporary freeze on UTI's US-64 scheme is likely to be presented in Parliament on December 19 and may fix responsibility for the scam and the muddle.
The opposition made it clear during the meeting that it will press for a joint parliamentary committee to probe the Rafale jet deal and raise several issues, including the "misuse" of probe agencies and the autonomy for Reserve Bank of India.
He accused Jaitley of having the ability to spin "two truths or lies" with "fake self-righteousness" and "indignation to defend the indefensible".
Earlier this week, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi held a series of meetings, including with Nationalist Congress Party supremo Sharad Pawar, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Rashtriya Janata Dal leader and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav and Janata Dal-United president Rajiv Ranjan Singh Lallan.
With the all-party meetings called by Rajya Sabha Chairperson Jagdeep Dhankhar and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla producing no breakthrough to end the deadlock in Parliament, Union ministers Piyush Goyal and Pralhad Joshi accused opposition parties of repeatedly 'insulting' Dhankhar.
Raut said industrialists should be supported, but not corruption.
on Thursday adjourned sine die, ending the four-week-long second leg of the Budget session, during which treasury and opposition members locked horns over Rahul Gandhi's 'democracy' remark and the Adani issue.
Ramesh, however, said it was too early to talk about all this right now as the Congress' first priority was the upcoming elections in Karnataka and the string of state polls this year.
Opposition parties, including the Congress, Trinamool Congress, Bharat Rashtra Party and Samajwadi Party, came together in a show of unity on Thursday and accused the Modi government of getting the second half of the budget session washed out, while asserting that if this attitude continues, the country will move towards a "dictatorship".
Hitting back at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his corruption jibe at the Opposition, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday accused him of running a "bhrashtachari bhagao abhiyan" (make the corrupt flee campaign), and said that he must stop his image makeover by posing as an anti-corruption crusader.
Opposition parties on Thursday agreed to jointly raise the issue of allegations of fraud against the Adani Group in Parliament but were yet to agree on the mode of inquiry into the Gujarat-based corporate major.
The Congress on Wednesday said the Supreme Court judgment on certain matters relating to transactions by the Adani Group has proven to be 'extraordinarily generous' to Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and asserted that the party's fight against crony capitalism and its ill-effects on prices, employment and inequalities will continue.
'The Bharat Jodo Yatra successfully resurrected the Rahul Gandhi brand.' 'There's a critical mass that has built up for the Congress and Mr Modi is feeling the heat on the Adani issue, the raids on the BBC offices, the Opposition getting together.'
Adani Group stocks have taken a beating on the bourses after Hindenburg Research made a litany of allegations in its report, including fraudulent transactions and share price manipulation at the Gautam Adani-led group.
Rajya Sabha Chairperson Jagdeep Dhankhar sought views of leaders of various political parties on ways to curb disruptions in the House at a meeting held on Sunday on the eve of the start of the second phase of the Budget session.
The opposition parties will meet on Monday morning to evolve their strategy in both Houses of Parliament after protests by them on the Hindenburg-Adani issue overshadowed most of the first half of the Budget session.
Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel asked why the prime minister and Centre were scared of ordering a probe into the fraud committed by the Adani Group.
She also proposed that nine issues, including violence in Manipur and price rise, be listed for discussion during the session.
His disqualification as Wayanad MP is effective from March 23, the day of his conviction
