Parliament proceedings | Parliament passes Bills on tribunal reforms, taxation

Bill to set up new Central university in Ladakh also cleared

Nirmala Sitharaman. File

Parliament on Monday cleared three Bills to abolish several appellate tribunals, to end retrospective tax on indirect transfer of Indian assets, and create a new Central university in Ladakh. The three Bills were cleared by the Rajya Sabha, having been passed by the Lok Sabha earlier in the ongoing Monsoon Session of Parliament.

The first of the three Bills to be cleared, the Tribunals Reforms (Rationalisation and Conditions of Service) Bill, 2021, will replace an ordinance. During the discussion on the Bill, Biju Janata Dal’s Sujeet Kumar, who was the first speaker, said that the legislation would help in removing an extra layer of adjudication. He, however, pointed out that there were still some key flaws in the Bill, including the fact that short tenures of the members would ensure executive hold on the tribunals. Also age criterion set in the Bill was meaningless. “If you can become a High Court Judge at 40 years, it is not logical that to be a member of tribunals as per the Bill you have to be 50 years old,” he said.

The Opposition utilised the opportunity to speak on the Bill to raise the Pegasus cyber attack issue. DMK MP N.R Elango said, “I oppose the Bill. The government wants to remove certain tribunals, which will increase the burden of the High Courts. Rather, I would demand that the government establish a tribunal to investigate Pegasus cyber attack.”

In her response, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman questioned the Congress for raising concerns about judicial independence, being a party that curtailed the same during the Emergency. She said the government fully respected the independence of the judiciary, but also respected the power of the legislature.

The House then took up and returned the Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021, after the Opposition staged a walkout over what they termed was the last-minutes inclusion of the Bill in the day’s list of business.

Ms. Sitharaman said the amendment would undo the 2012 amendment that brought in retrospective taxation. India’s sovereign right would not be diluted by the Bill, she said.