Kurien reserves ruling on whether Bills pending in RS can be taken up in LS

Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha P.J. Kurien on Tuesday reserved his ruling on a question raised by four Opposition parties whether Bills pending in the House could be taken up for passage in the Lok Sabha.

The Samajwadi Party, the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the Trinamool Congress and the Congress raised the question as ordinances replacing Bills on FDI in insurance, coal mines and the Motor Vehicles Act will be taken up in the Lok Sabha during the week for consideration and passage.

Mr. Kurien said one House could not discuss the business taken up by the other, and it was not known if the Bills moved in the Lower House were the same as those pending before the Rajya Sabha. “This is not a simple issue. It needs consideration,” he said.

The Chair’s observation came after Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi pointed out that the issue raised was not related to the Upper House and there was no clarity on which Bill the Opposition members were talking about. BJP member V.P. Singh Badnore pointed out that there was no rule regarding this.

Raising the issue during Zero Hour, Samajwadi Party member Naresh Agrawal pointed out that the Rajya Sabha should either pass the Bills that were the “property’’ of the House or reject them, but the same Bills could not be brought in the other House while they were pending decision here.

Law Minister Sadananda Gowda intervened to say that the House could not say whether the government was bringing the “same” Bills or different ones in the other House to replace the Ordinances.

CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury said if that was not the case, then why the government wanted to withdraw those Bills from the Rajya Sabha, a move which was deferred as the Opposition did not agree to it.

The Opposition parties last week forced the government to defer its motions for withdrawal of Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2008, Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Bill, 2014, and Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, 2014 pending for discussion and passage in the House. The Bills that replaced the ordinances were now expected to be passed in the Lok Sabha.