Team Anna member Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday met senior Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Sitaram Yechury on the Lokpal issue ahead of the Parliamentary Standing Committee meeting to finalise its report on the anti-corruption law.
The bill was taken up for consideration in the Lok Sabha after the Speaker rejected Opposition demands to refer the key reform measure to a parliamentary Standing Committee.
Batting for holding of simultaneous elections in the country, a parliamentary committee on Tuesday said this will reduce the burden on the exchequer, expenditure of political parties and also ensure that human resources are optimally utilised.
'Going forward, the encouragement would be to move to the new tax regime.'
The bills that repeal and replace the Indian Penal Code, Code of Criminal Procedure and the Indian Evidence Act will usher in a new era in the criminal justice system, Home Minister Amit Shah said
Some of them also flagged a lack of consultation before finalising the reports.
Taking a leaf from the US, Canada and the UK, where students and research scholars get to work with Parliamentary panels, Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan is pushing for induction of interns in the Parliamentary standing committees.
Two individuals claiming to be members of the Janata Dal (United) (JD(U)) in Bihar announced their "resignation" from the party, citing dissatisfaction with its support for the Waqf (Amendment) Bill. The JD(U) denied the resignations, claiming the individuals were not party members. However, some senior JD(U) leaders have expressed discontent over the passage of the bill, which they believe is detrimental to Muslims. The controversy over the Waqf Bill is likely to influence the upcoming assembly elections in Bihar.
Amid sharp differences in the Parliamentary Committee examining the Lokpal Bill on a variety of issues including bringing Prime Minister under its ambit, panel chairman Abhishek Singhvi has called a fresh meeting on Thursday evening.
Besides the bills, the government has listed the first batch of supplementary demands for grants for 2023-24 for presentation, discussion and voting during the session.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance, chaired by BJP leader and former Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha, which met on Friday to discuss the chit fund scam, was of the view that there should be a 'single law and a single regulator' to deal with investment schemes, sources said.
Buch, under a cloud over allegations of conflict of interest levelled by United States-based short-seller Hindenburg, was asked to appear before the PAC, which is reviewing the performance of the market regulator.
The Election Commission had pegged the cost of procuring additional Electronic Voting Machines and paper-trail machines for holding synchronised Lok Sabha and assembly polls at nearly Rs 9,300 crore.
Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Thursday demanded immediate arrest of industrialist Gautam Adani after the billionaire industrialist was charged in the United States for alleged bribery and fraud.
At the same time, offences attracting disqualification should have punishment more than five years, instead of existing two years.
A fresh plea has been filed in the Supreme Court challenging the constitutional validity of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, claiming it was a "blatant intrusion" into the rights of a religious denomination to manage its own affairs in the matter of religion. The plea, filed by Samastha Kerala Jamiathul Ulema, argues that the amendments would distort the religious character of Waqfs and irreversibly damage the democratic process in their administration. Several other petitions have been filed in the apex court challenging the validity of the bill, including those by Congress MP Mohammad Jawed, AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi, and AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan.
It also suggested that the IPC provision related to adultery should be retained in the Sanhita by making it gender neutral "for the sake of protecting the institution of marriage".
The Lokpal Bill is set to be put on the fast-track with the Parliamentary panel on Law taking it for examination from Friday by hearing views of Aruna Roy and Jaiprakash Narayan who have presented their own drafts.
India Inc will find the cost of fighting a legal battle going up if a suggestion by a Parliamentary Standing Committee to impose higher court fee for the corporate sector is accepted.
Against the backdrop of December 16 Delhi gang rape, a Parliamentary panel has recommended that mercy petitions should generally not be considered in cases of rape and murder and reasons for any grant of pardon should be made public.
A day after his ministry rebuked Twitter for not complying with its orders to take down inflammatory content, Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said social media platforms cannot give differential treatment while handling problems on Capitol Hill and the Red Fort.
Consensus on the inclusion of the prime minister under the ambit of Lokpal eluded a Parliamentary panel scrutinising the bill even as it prepares to circulate a draft report of the recommendations to the members in the next few days.
The first meeting of the key Parliamentary committee on Women's Reservation Bill on Tuesday was a stormy affair with the supporters and opponents of the measure indulging in verbal duels over the contentious issue. The meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Law and Justice saw clashes between supporters and opponents of the Bill seeking to provide 33 per cent reservation for women in Lok Sabha and state assemblies.
Two bills that lay down the mechanism to hold simultaneous elections were introduced in the Lok Sabha after a fiery debate on Tuesday, with the opposition terming the move 'dictatorial' and Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal asserting that the legislation would not tamper with the powers enjoyed by states.
Consensus eluded the Parliamentary panel on Lokpal on the issue of including the prime minister within the ambit of the ombudsman with a majority opposing the suggestion, saying it could lead to complications while some others favoured it with riders.
The Code on Wages Bill, 2019 seeks to amend and consolidate the laws relating to wages, bonus and matters connected therewith. The Bill will subsume four labour laws -- Minimum Wages Act, Payment of Wages Act, Payment of Bonus Act and Equal Remuneration Act. About 50 crore labourers will benefit.
The Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025 was passed in the Lok Sabha early Thursday, with 288 members supporting it and 232 against it.
Opposition MPs in the parliamentary committee scrutinising the Waqf (Amendment) Bill are scheduled to meet Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Tuesday to protest its chairperson Jagdambika Pal's alleged 'unilateral' decisions and attempts to 'bulldoze' proceedings, indicating that they may disassociate themselves from the panel.
While suggesting reorganisation of the CBI, Natchiappan said, "We recommend the implementation of the constitutional provision for institutionalising and reorganising the CBI as Central Bureau of Intelligence and Investigation and the Constitution already has a provision for it." But till the time a law is enacted for reconstituting or creating a federal crime agency, there should be a mechanism to hand over investigation of terror attack cases to CBI, in case it is needed.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Labour will recommend to the Union Ministry of Labour to frame laws so as to bring workers of the unorganised sector in the country under the social security net.
Karat will be the third woman member after Najma Heptulla (Bharatiya Janata Party) and Prabha Thakur (Congress) were inducted into the body, which earlier comprised only men
The opposition on Sunday asked the Centre to allow discussions in the Parliament on the United States prosecutors' bribery charges against the Adani Group even as Union minister Kiren Rijiju made it clear that the matters to be taken up in the two Houses will be decided by their authorised committees with the consent of the respective Chair.
'Muslims need to work according to strategy and not fall into the trap of Opposition parties.'
The law minister said his ministry is committed to the use of simpler language wherever possible.
Despite government declaring it as a "top priority," the Women's Reservation Bill is unlikely to come up in the Budget session of Parliament beginning on Thursday.
"It is mentioned that there is no provision in the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013 for appeal, review or reconsideration of an order passed by a bench of the Lokpal of India. It is hereby informed to all concerned that no appeal or request for review/reconsideration of an order will be entertained by the Lokpal of India," the Lokpal said in a notice.
With allegations of corruption echoing in the higher echelons of the judiciary, the government for the first time this year sought to draw a legislative line bringing judges within the purview of legal scrutiny.
Parliamentary Standing Committee on Law and Justice has made a suggestion for protecting whistle-blowers from the dreaded contempt law, till inquiry into such charges, as part of an effort to ensure accountability of judges. The proposal has been mooted for inclusion in the Judges (Inquiry) Bill 2006 which is expected to be introduced in Parliament shortly.
Government on Friday said it will bring a comprehensive law to criminalise marital rape by amending the IPC and was awaiting the Law Commission report on the issue.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Law and Justice, and Personnel in its report in December last had recommended passage of the Bill in its present form and suggested that the issue should not be left to the discretion of political parties.
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