President Pranab Mukherjee asked three senior Union Ministers to give reasons to justify the urgency of issuing ordinances amending the Land Acquisition Act, the Motor Vehicles Act and the Citizenship Act, while reminding them that the validity of an ordinance was for just six weeks after Parliament reassembled.
On the ordinance on the Motor Vehicles Act, Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari reportedly told the President that tens of thousands of families plying e-rickshaws were in grave danger of losing their livelihoods.
The President was informed that the ordinance to amend the Citizenship Act, putting a Person of Indian Origin (PIO) on a par with an Overseas Citizen of India (OCI), was to honour a commitment given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last September. The ordinance was signed by the President ahead of Pravasi Bharatiya Divas.
In the absence of Rural Development Minister Birender Singh, the President is reported to have sought detailed clarifications from Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on the urgency of the ordinance amending the Land Acquisition Act.
On the issue of convening a joint sitting of Parliament, the former Lok Sabha Secretary-General, Subhash Kashyap, said such a session could be convened if only there was a “final disagreement” between the two Houses on a Bill.
First, a Bill would have to be introduced and discussed in each House and only if there was a disagreement, could a joint sitting be convened, Mr. Kashyap said.
