A REVIEW OF TODAY’S PARLIAMENT PROCEEDINGS

Lok Sabha today passed three key Bills which seek to overhaul the criminal justice system and replace the Indian Penal Code, Criminal Penal Code and the Evidence Act with Union Home Minister Amit Shah asserting that the focus of the proposed laws is on delivering justice rather than handing down punishment. ”   ”Shah said the three Bills — Bharatiya Nyaya (Second) Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha (Second) Sanhita and the Bharatiya Sakshya (Second) Bill — also have a clear definition of terrorism, scrap sedition as a crime and introduce a new section titled "offenses against the state". ”   ”The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita seeks to replace the Indian Penal Code-1860, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita will replace the CrPC of 1973 and the Bharatiya Sakshya Bill will replace the Indian Evidence Act of 1872. ”   ”  Replying to a debate, which started yesterday and continued today, Shah said the three proposed laws were drafted after comprehensive consultations and that he had gone through every comma and full stop of the draft legislations before bringing them before the House for approval. ”   ”  "I personally had 158 meetings. Not only every line, I have read every comma and every full stop of the bills," he said. ”   ”  Highlighting the achievements of the Narendra Modi government, the Home Minister said it was a government which delivers every promise it makes. ”   ”  "We have said we will construct the Ram temple in Ayodhya and as promised the statue of Lord Ram will be consecrated on January 22," he said amid Jai Shri Ram chant by members of the treasury benches. ”   ”  Only a handful of opposition Members, including Hyderabad MP and AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi, members of the Biju Janata Dal, Bahujan Samaj Party and a few other parties were present in the House. ”   ”  Congress, DMK, TMC and other opposition parties boycotted the debate after 97 of their colleagues were suspended from the Lok Sabha due to their "unruly" behaviour in the House. ”   ”  Referring to various provisions of the proposed laws, Home Minister Amit Shah said for the first time, the criminal justice system will have the human touch. ”   ”  "Till we repeal these old laws, we are still following laws made by the United Kingdom Government. We still use English words like Her Majesty, British Kingdom, the crown, barrister, ruler after 75 years of independence," he said. ”   ”  On terrorism, he said if someone opposes the government, he should not be punished considering it as his freedom of speech. ”   ”  "But no one should try to protect anyone who is involved in terrorism citing the clause of freedom of speech because terrorism is the worst human rights violation. Anyone involved in terrorism must be given harsh punishment," he said. ”   ”  The home minister said even the law on sedition has been removed but if anyone works against the country, he or she must not be spared and must be given the strictest punishment. "Those who harm the country will not be spared," he said. ”   ”  He said the existing criminal laws – Indian Penal Code (IPC), Indian Evidence Act and the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) – were reflective of the colonial mindset with the intention to punish and not impart justice. ”   ”  "The three new bills seek to establish a justice system based on Indian thinking… Three proposed criminal laws will free people from colonial mindset and its symbols," he said. ”   ”  Shah said the colonial-era laws prioritised acts of "looting the treasury", "uprooting rail tracks" and "insult to the Crown" over crimes against women and children, human rights, border security, and the army. ”   ”  The old laws had listed rape under Section 375-376, the new bill has the crime listed under Section 63, murder was listed under Section 302 now it is Section 101, kidnapping was under Section 359 and now it is Section 136, Shah said. ”   ”  Listing the features of the bills, he said, "This bill punishes mob lynching with death penalty. Congress leader P Chidambaram kept asking me what about mob lynching. He does not understand BJP and our mentality. Why did you not penalise mob lynching during your rule? If one's mind is Indian, you will understand the laws. If it is Italian, you won't." ”   ” The three bills reflect the spirit of the Constitution…but those with an Italian mindset will never understand it," he said in an apparent dig at the opposition Congress. ”   ”  Shah asserted that the three laws were based on justice, transparency and fairness. ”   ”  "This is the first government which has fulfilled the promises it has mentioned in its manifesto. We have revoked Article 370, removed AFSPA in 70 per cent areas in the north-eastern states, banned triple talaq and gave 33 per cent reservation to women in Parliament," he said. ”     ” Earlier, the Lok Sabha proceedings were disrupted by the opposition members protesting against the suspension of their colleagues and seeking a statement from Home Minister Amit Shah on the security breach of Parliament on December 13. ”     ” Speaker Om Birla warned four opposition members against bringing placards into the House and asked them to go back to their seats. ”     ” As the Question Hour was progressing, some opposition members sat in the Well of the House, shouted slogans and displayed placards. ”   ”  Speaker Om Birla mentioned the names of four members, warning them not to bring placards to the House and also asked them to go back to their seats. Soon after, the Speaker adjourned the proceedings till noon. ”   ”  At least three questions and their supplementaries were taken up during Question Hour which went on for about 30 minutes. ”   ”  One starred question that was listed in the names of TMC MPs Sougata Ray and Pratima Mondal was not taken up by the Speaker. The two are among the Lok Sabha members who have been suspended from the House. ”     ” When the House reassembled, two more opposition MPs were suspended for showing placards in the House. ”     ” Thomas Chazhikadan of the Kerala Congress (Mani) and A M Ariff of the CPI(M) were suspended for misconduct after a resolution moved by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi was adopted by the House. ”   ”  This takes the number of suspended MPs in the Lok Sabha to 97. So far 143 opposition MPs have been suspended from the two Houses of Parliament. ”     ” Participating in the debate on the three criminal bills, Hyderabad MP and AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi alleged that the new criminal bills are a threat to the civil liberty and rights of the people as they give sweeping powers to the police to take action against anyone. ”   ”  Home Minister Amit Shah introduced the three redrafted bills — the Bharatiya Nyaya (Second) Sanhita (BNS), the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha (Second) Sanhita (BNSS) and the Bharatiya Sakshya (Second) Bill (BSB) — last week and the Lok Sabha on Tuesday took them up for a debate for their consideration and passage. ”   ”  Owaisi, the president of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), said several provisions have been incorporated in the BNS which were "very dangerous". ”   ”  He alleged that the proposed laws will be a threat to the country's Muslims, Dalits and Adivasis and claimed that 30 per cent of prisoners across the country and 33 per cent of prisoners in Uttar Pradesh alone belong to the Muslim community. ”     ” Nishikant Dubey of BJP, Harsimrat Kaurof Shiroman Akali Dal, Ramesh Bidhuri of BJP among others who also participated in the discussion. ”     ” The Indian Telecommunications Bill 2023, which will allow the government to temporarily take control of telecom services in the interest of national security, drops OTT in definition of telecom services and provides for non-auction route for allocation of satellite spectrum, was on Wednesday passed by the Lok Sabha through voice vote. ”   ”  The bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha by Telecommunication Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Monday. ”   ”  The bill seeks to supersede the existing regulatory framework for the telecommunication sector, based on the Indian Telegraph Act, of 1885, the Wireless Telegraphy Act (1933), and the Telegraph Wires (Unlawful Possession) Act (1950). According to the bill, the press messages meant for publication in India of correspondents accredited to the Centre or state governments shall not be intercepted or detained unless their transmission has been prohibited under rules applicable for public emergency, public order etc. ”   ”  The bill proposes allocation of spectrum to satellite communications companies through administrative method. ”       ”  "The central government shall assign spectrum for telecommunication through auction except for entries listed in the First Schedule for which assignment shall be done by administrative process," the bill said. ”   ” The first schedule has 19 cases for which spectrum will be assigned through administrative process including global mobile personal communication by satellites, national long-distance and international long-distance services, mobile satellite services, VSAT, In-Flight and maritime connectivity, BSNL and MTNL. ”   ”  The bill defines cases when spectrum will be assigned through administrative method. ” ”  Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar today said he will not tolerate any insult to Parliament and the post of vice president while expressing deep anguish over a TMC Member mimicking him in the Parliament complex and a Congress Member recording the act.  ” ” The chairman said the act of mimicking him and its videography has caused an "insult" to the honour of the post of the Vice President, the farmers and his own community. ”   ” When the House met at 11.45 am after the third adjournment, Dhankhar expressed his anguish over yesterday's incident and asked the Congress party, including Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge to ponder over it. ”   ” "I am not bothered if anyone insults Jagdeep Dhankhar but I cannot bear that I could not protect the honour of my post. It is my duty to protect the honour of the House", Dhankhar said. ”   ” "You cannot imagine what has happened. Such a big incident took place. The post was disrespected. The farmers' community was insulted. My community was insulted, and you are silent," he said before adjourning the House again for about 15 minutes. ”   ” Earlier, the proceedings were adjourned thrice in the morning amid a ruckus by Opposition members on the Parliament security breach issue. ”   ” The proceedings were first adjourned for 15 minutes as soon as the House met and again at 11.15 am. When the House met again at 11.30 am, similar scenes were witnessed with opposition members raising the security breach issue. ”   ” Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar cautioned Tiruchi Siva of DMK and asked the Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge to help bring order in the House. ”     ” Later it was adjourned to meet at 11:45 am. ”     ” Proceedings in the House have been disrupted for the past several days with the opposition insisting on a statement from the Home Minister of the security breach in Parliament that happened on 13th of December. ” Several opposition members have also been suspended from the House for unruly behaviour. ” The government informed the Rajya Sabha that it will approach the Supreme Court again to get more funds from the Sahara Group, as three crore investors have sought a refund of Rs 80,000 crore rupees stuck with the company's cooperative societies. ” The cooperation ministry has launched a portal for investors where they can make an application to get their money stuck with societies, Minister of State for Cooperation B L Verma said in the Rajya Sabha while replying to a supplementary question. ”   ” Verma said three crore investors have registered on the portal seeking their money to the tune of 80,000 crore rupees back. He assured that all investors going through the process on the portal will get their money back. The government is refunding money to small investors first with an amount of 10,000 rupees each, he said. ”   ” While, replying to other queries Verma said the home loan limit has been increased by two and a half times to 75 lakh rupees from 32 lakh rupees for rural cooperative banks. ”     ” Parliament today passed a Bill to raise the age limit of the president and members of the Goods and Services Tax Appellate Tribunal as Rajya Sabha today returned The Central Goods and Services Tax (Second Amendment) Bill, 2023 after approving with a voice vote. ”     ” In the post-lunch session of the Upper House, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman moved The Central Goods and Services Tax (Second Amendment) Bill, 2023 which seeks to cap the age for President and members of the GST appellate tribunals at 70 years and 67 years respectively, higher than 67 years and 65 years specified earlier. ”     ” The Bill also aligns the provisions of the Central GST Act in line with the Tribunal Reforms Act, 2021. ”     ” While moving the bill for consideration and passage, Sitharaman said the bill has been brought to comply with a judgement of the Madras High Court which held that the number of expert members cannot exceed the number of judicial members on the bench of GSTAT and also to be in conformity with the Tribunals Reforms Act 2021 which standardised the qualification of all the tribunal benches and appointments made to them. ”     ” The Finance Minister acknowledged that the Chief Justice of India had brought to the notice of the Finance Ministry two points that the CGST Act was not in alignment with the Tribunals Reforms Act 2021. ”     ” Two points on which the Chief Justice came to advise and the advice has been well taken is that the maximum age limit for the post of the President and the members is 67 and 65 years in the CGST Act before today, whereas under the Tribunals Reform Act of 2021, it is 70 years and 67 years respectively. That is one point which was flagged by the Chief Justice of India, she said. ”     ” The second point that the CJI has pointed out is that the CGST Act did not have a provision relating to the eligibility of an advocate with the standing of tenures at the bar for appointment as judicial member, whereas the same is available in the rules framed. ”     ” Taking part in the discussion, Amar Patnaik of Biju Janata Dal supported the bill but drew the attention of the government to the number of vacancies in different tribunals and asked to fill them quickly. ”     ” Sushil Kumar Modi of BJP also supported the legislation but said fraudulent credit claims are becoming a huge challenge as has been witnessed in the European Union and suggested a simplified registration and return process for those traders who intend to buy and sell only within a state. ”     ”  He also called for ample clarification on virtual digital assets and services relating to the digital economy to avoid a repeat of what happened with the online gaming sector which was brought under 28 per cent slab. ”     ”  Masthan Rao Beeda of YSRCP also supported the bill but called for simplification in the GST slabs saying complexity was creating confusion, increase in administrative burden and potential errors. M Thambidurai of AIADMK also supported the bill. ”     ”  BJP member Prakash Javadekar said 95 per cent of decisions by the GST council have been taken unanimously, in a transparent matter. GST has helped to increase the collection by stopping leakage in the tax system. ”     ”  For the last few months, monthly GST collections have been over 1.60 lakh crore rupees. Such tax reforms as GST propel the growth of the nation, he added. ”     ”  Arun Singh of BJP said the Modi government has brought administrative reforms in the country and simplified the law and provisions. It had repealed 1,500 old laws, removed several compliances started processes such as faceless scrutiny and appeal worked on its moto Minimum Government, Maximum Governance. ”     ” Dr Sikander Kumar of BJP said this will further improve the health of the economy. ”     ” Deepak Prakash, DP Vats, Dhananjay Bhimrao Mahadik, Naresh Bansal and Rakesh Sinha all BJP also participated in the discussions. ”     ” The Parliament today passed a Bill that seeks to give immediate effect to the changes in customs and excise duties announced in the Budget. ”     ” The Rajya Sabha returned the Provisional Collection of Taxes Bill 2023, to Lok Sabha, without any changes, thus completing the process. ”     ” The Upper House after a brief discussion on the Provisional Collection of Taxes Bill 2023, returned the Bill by voice vote. The bill was moved by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Rajya Sabha. ”     ” The bill has already been passed by Lok Sabha yesterday. ”     ” The Provisional Collection of Taxes Bill, 2023 seeks to obtain the authority from Parliament to provisionally levy and collect the newly imposed or increased duties of customs and excise for 75 days. ”     ” This Bill proposes to replace the erstwhile Provisional Collection of Taxes Act, 1931 with a minor change that is technical in nature. ”     ” The provisions of the Bill empower collection provisionally, during the period between the introduction and enactment of the Bill the increased customs or central excise duty where such duty rate is increased beyond the statutory rate approved by Parliament or where such duty is newly imposed. ”     ” While the changes in rates of income and corporate taxes, incorporated in the Budget announced on February 1, are effective from April 1 or a notified date, most of the changes in customs and excise duty rates become effective from midnight. ”     ” The Bill provides for the "immediate effect for a limited period" of provisions in Bills relating to the imposition or increase of duties of customs or excise. The bill incorporates the existing provisions of the 1931 Bill. ”     ” Amar Patnaik of BJD, Ghanshyam Tiwari of BJP, Ayodhya Rami Reddy Alla of YSRCP, M Thambidurai of AIADMK, Rambhai Harijibhai Mokariya and K Laxman of BJP participated in the discussions.

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A REVIEW OF TODAY’S PARLIAMENT PROCEEDINGS