K.N. Balagopal, MP, submitted a privilege notice to Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari on Friday against Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Union Minister of State for Petroleum Dharmendra Pradhan for increasing the excise duty on petrol and diesel on January 1 when the notice for statutory motion to disallow an earlier such notification was pending before the House.
In the just-concluded Winter Session of Parliament, the Chairman had admitted a statutory notice, submitted by Mr. Balagopal and another Communist Party of India (Marxist) member, Sitaram Yechury, against the increase in excise duty when Parliament was in session. The Business Advisory Committee of the House had allotted time for taking it up, but the matter could not be discussed because of successive disruptions of proceedings.
“Since such an important motion is pending before the House for discussion and finalisation, it is the responsibility of the government to respect parliamentary practices and procedures. Instead of fulfilling parliamentary responsibilities, the government is trying to bypass the authority of Parliament. When the international price of crude has been decreased from $115 per barrel to $55 per barrel, here in our country, the government is increasing the ‘real price’ of petroleum products. If the government passes over the international price of petroleum to Indian consumers, it would be less than Rs. 40 per litre of petrol and diesel,” Mr. Balagopal said.
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