Mallya’s Expulsion Suggested; Bankruptcy, Finance Bills Passed
The Quint brings you the latest from the Budget Session of Parliament.
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BJP member Subramanian Swamy presented various grounds in the Rajya Sabha on which he claimed that the Congress party members could be prosecuted in connection to the AgustaWestland deal.
Before Mallya’s resignation was officially accepted in the Rajya Sabha, the Ethics Committee of the upper house had recommended his immediate expulsion. Chairman of the Ethics Committee, Dr Karan Singh said that Mallya was an example of the fact that they were willing to take stringent action against MPs.
In the Lok Sabha, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that the government will inject more capital into public sector banks to address the problem of increasing bad loans.
The Finance Bill and the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code Bill were passed in the Lok Sabha, on Thursday.
The Rajya Sabha has been adjourned until 11 am on Friday.
The Lok Sabha has been adjourned until 11 am on Friday.
In the zero hour TDP member, Jayadev Bhalla asked the Centre to make amendments to the obsolete laws in the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act.
He said the paltry sum of Rs 50 as fine is ineffective and urged the government to make stricter laws to deal with those who have shown cruelty towards animals.
The opposition parties criticised the government for the state of education in the country. Several MPs in the Rajya Sabha accused the Centre of attempting to saffronize education.
Congress MPs said that instead of addressing the discrimination faced by the underprivileged classes in the educational institutions, the MHRD had ordered to hoist Indian flags in university campuses.
MPs also urged the governmet to increased the meagre salary of Rs 2000 of the mid-day meal cooks.
The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code Bill has been passed in the Lok Sabha on Thursday.
The proposed amendments of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code Bill was discussed in the Lok Sabha.
Gourav Gogoi, a member of Congress and son of current Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi informed the parliament that the current bad loans in the country amount to Rs 71,000 crores.
Jayant Sinha, the Minister of State for Finance said that the proposed amendments “redress the balance of power between promoters and creditors.”
Increase Education Budget
The declining budget for education was criticised by the opposition parties in the Rajya Sabha.
SP leader from Uttar Pradesh, Naresh Agarwal said that education must be made compulsory in Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (SSA) scheme. He also blamed the low budget for education that has brought about glaring differences in the quality of education between private and government schools.
Congress MP Viplove Thakur from Himachal Pradesh said that the poor budget towards SSA leads to a state where there is a lack of good teachers in village schools.
The opposition party raised the matter of the frequent incidents of violence against cattle traders in several parts of the country in the Rajya Sabha.
Kiren Rijiju, the Union Minister of State for Home Affairs defended the Centre saying that it’s unfair to call the Prime Minister or the party intolerant.
Leader of Opposition, Ghulam Nabi Azad said that Rijiju’s reply “deranged the purpose of the issue.”
The Finance Bill has been passed in the Lok Sabha.
Lok Sabha adjourned till 2.30 pm.
Rajya Sabha adjourned for lunch.
1% Excise Duty on Gold Ruled Out
Jaitley reiterated the government’s stand despite widespread protest from the traders and ruled out the withdrawal of one percent excise duty on gold.
The jewellery traders across the country had gone on strike for six weeks to oppose the one percent levy of excise duty, which came as a blow to the gems and jewellery sector.
In the Lok Sabha, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that the government will inject more capital into public sector banks to address the problem of increasing bad loans.
Jaitley also said that notices have been served to all those whose names appeared in the Panama Papers leaks so far.
Once again, Rajya Sabha was rocked by the AgustaWestland issue.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Wednesday that the government will take up the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code for discussion and passage in Lok Sabha immediately after his reply on the Finance Bill.
On the GST Bill, the Finance Minister said that he had a round of discussion with Congress leaders on the proposed indirect tax regime.
Thursday was a dramatic day in Parliament, with AgustaWestland and Vijay Mallya’s resignation from the Rajya Sabha dominating proceedings in both Houses.
Mallya’s Resignation
Before Mallya’s resignation was officially accepted in the Rajya Sabha, the Ethics Committee of the upper house had recommended his immediate expulsion. Chairman of the Ethics Committee, Dr Karan Singh said that Mallya was an example of the fact that they were willing to take stringent action against MPs.
AgustaWestland in the Rajya Sabha
BJP MP Bhupendra Yadav led the charge against the Congress on behalf of the government.
Abhishek Manu Singhvi responded to Bhupendra Yadav on behalf of the Congress, saying that Ahmed Patel was villified without any concrete proof. He also lambasted the BJP government, saying that they allowed the ‘tainted’ ‘bogus’ company to participate in Bengaluru’s Aero Show in 2015.
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo and former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Mayawati sought the Supreme Court’s intervention in the investigation in the AgustaWestland case.
BJP member Subramanian Swamy addressed the Rajya Sabha and presented various grounds on which he claimed that the Congress party members could be prosecuted.
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Published: 05 May 2016,11:27 AM IST