Parliament Winter Session Day 1 updates | RS passes Post Office Bill, 2023; LS passes Advocates (Amendment) Bill 2023

The Lok Sabha was adjourned till 11 am on Tuesday, December 5, 202.3.

Part by part, each component of the Advocates (Amendment) Bill, 2023 is passed. The Bill is passed in its entirety by voice vote.

Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal replies to the discussion on the Advocates Amendment Bill, 2023, highlighting that it has taken place for three hours.

This is a colonial Act without utility and should be repealed, he said, saying that 1486 such laws have been done away with. He says that not even one such law was ended during Manmohan Singh’s tenure. 

He says that matters about the welfare of advocates were raised. Under PM Modi, everyone is benefitting (sabka saath, sabka vikas). 

On Constitution Day, a statue of Babasaheb Ambedkar was unveiled on the grounds of the Supreme Court, he said, adding that the country is going in the right direction.

Syed Imtiaz Jaleel, AIMIM MP, says that you will find these touts in every government office. Some officials are also touts, he says. He highlights that the Rs. 500 fine is not prohibitive enough for the touts.

INC MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury says that the legal mechanism should be strengthened and streamlined. He also asked for the legal aid process for poor people to be improved.

Proceedings will now resume on Tuesday, December 5, at 11 a.m.

The Bill has been passed through a voice vote.

Provision for interception is required for national security, says the minister. “(Rules) for interception will be fair and transparent. There is absolutely nothing to worry about,” Mr. Vaishnaw says.

The minister also clarifies that there is no question of privatisation of post offices. Some MPs raised the concern during the discussion. 

The minister defends criticism of surveillance and liability against the Post Office Bill.

“The government has a right to keep track of illegal substances like narcotics being transported through postal networks and this is in public interest,” the MP says.

If you are trying to remove touting, why not punish both parties, asks NCP MP Supriya Sule. 

The next question put forth by her is that there is no clarity about who the persons are in the meeting mentioned in the Bill, and that there are no objects mentioned for the Bill. We need to expand this Bill, Ms Sule says. 

Is there something this government has in mind for the technical upgrade for lawyers, she further asks. Why not bring a comprehensive Bill in the larger interests of the lawyers of this country, she says.

The MP says that clauses 9 and 10 of the Post Office Bill will add to surveillance, and authorities responsible will not be held liable once this Bill is passed.

Ms. Chaturvedi also mentions that she wrote a letter to Communications Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw about state-sponsored attacks that were received by some Opposition members in October 2023. She says that the minister has not yet responded to her letter.

The MP says that he is grateful to Communications Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw for retaining the name of the (Post Office) Bill in English and not changing it to Hindi so that it is “understandable to each and every Indian”.

On his party’s behalf, the MP says that they are not in a position to support this Bill in the existing form due to section 9 and subclauses. “This will turn our post offices into Pegasus offices,” the MP says, alluding to the Israeli spyware that was allegedly found on phones of Indian lawmakers, activists, journalists etc. in 2021.

National security is a concept that can be easily misused and this government has misused it many times, he says.

AITC MP Kalyan Banerjee questions whether the judiciary exists to solve the problems of the sophisticated people, he asks, asserting that the Supreme Court has not heard anything pertaining to poor people and farmers in the country in the last two decades. 

Those in the bigger field will not be caught, because they are not drinking tea at the street stall, they are drinking tea in a 5-star hotels, he says. 

A. Raja, DMK MP who represents Nilgiris in Tamil Nadu, says that the Bill was crafted without giving due care to the legislative competence of the Parliament. He asserts that co-operative federalism has become a laughing stock, saying that Bills encroaching on State subjects have been brought to the Parlament. 

He says that the Bill seeks to repeal a colonial era provision, but is again reintroducing the same, and questions the rationale for the same.

Highlighting that while touts will be punished by the law, the giver of money is not, he says that the person who is giving money should also be held liable, saying that the very purpose of the Prevention of Corruption Act is being defeated by the Bill. 

Judicial system needs a middle-man at every point, whether that should be regularised or removed in the question, he says, citing the example of the Advocate on Record approaching Senior Advocates. 

Take back the law, revisit and try to regularise and make a system which is workable in the judicial system, he says. 

“This Bill is a step towards three pillars of good postal service, reliability, reach, relevance,” the MP says.

He also makes three suggestions to Communications Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw to improve the Bill -- rethink pricing to increase profitability and introduce differential pricing based on location, digitise services wherever possible, like replacing money orders with mobile transfers, and invest in payments bank and financial services in rural areas.

Power to identify touts is with judges, not with government, says BJP MP Jagadambika Pal. He says that this will be a historic change for courts all over the country. 

This legislation was recommended by the Law Commission of India, he highlights. It is not brought by the government on its own, he says, adding that it undertook comprehensive consultation with the Bar Council of India. 

“As of now, 90,000 existing posts (in postal services) are lying vacant. Is this the evolution and prosperity of the services?” he says.

The MP also adds that the lack of appointments to vacant posts, in addition with this new Bill, will pave the way for privatisation of the sector. 

The Bill is against the federal principles of the country, the MP says. 

INC MP Karti Chidambaram rises to speak about the Advocates (Amendment) Bill, and highlights that it is the asymmetry and the complications of the legal system which allow touts to flourish. 

He says that his only quibble with the law is that it goes after the small touts. He urges the government to go after the big fish, saying that there is a nexus between lawyers and touts. 

AAP MP Raghav Chadha opposed the Post Office Bill, 2023, in his maiden speech after being reinstated in the Rajya Sabha. The legislation betrays a ‘Big Brother’ syndrome that plagues the government, Mr. Chadha said, as it will give the government unchecked power to open, read, detain and intercept mail and take whatever action they like, without due limitations embedded in the law. He added the grounds to open and intercept mail are “vague” and the Bill fails to specify procedures for allowing such interception. 

Mr. Chadha also raised the issue of the recent iPhone hacking alerts and called for an investigation by a Joint Parliamentary Committee on the attack.

The bill moves in on the current government’s endeavour of repealing all obsolete laws or pre-independence acts which have lost their utility. Broadly, the objective entails, “...reduce the number of superfluous enactments in the statute book.” 

Prepared in consultation with the Bar Council of India, the bill would repeal the Legal Practitioners Act (1879) and amend the Advocates Act (1961) by incorporating the provisions of section 36 of the Legal Practitioners Act (1879) in the Advocates Act (1961). This would also help to regulate the legal profession by a single Act, the Advocates Act, 1961. 

Discussions heat up on the privacy and privatised aspects of the Post Office Bill, 2023. All India Trinamool Congress’s Sukhendu Sekhar Ray opposed the Bill “in its entirety”. “This Bill in part shall create avenues in transforming our democracy into a surveillance state after the Pegasus-Gate”, he said. 

MP P. Wilson of DMK further added that the Bill is a “step to privatise and encourage private players in postal services”. He said the government has proposed reforms without identifying the issues, and the Bill lacks a “blueprint on infrastructural upgrades and technological interventions needed for accurate delivery of mails and parcels”. The Bill “appears to be a hasty exercise just to replace old colonial laws,” Mr. Wilson added.

BJP’s Laxmikant Bajpayee, on the contrary, laid out the merits of the Post Office Bill. The mail and parcel delivery speed will increase; new post offices under the Bill will create employment opportunities; the technology-centric nature will help the post service transform into a banking ecosystem. Referring to Mr. Gohil’s privacy concerns, Mr. Bajpayee said he is confident the government will ensure the interception is done safely. 

Mr. Bajpayee added that India has come a long way, from the times of using pigeons to now using drones, to send mail and letters.

INC member Shaktisinh Gohil in Rajya Sabha began discussions by briefly speaking about the history of the Indian Post Office Act (1898) and the vast breadth of India’s postal system. Among other issues, he said the Bill (which allows the post to be intercepted ‘under a public emergency’) raises privacy concerns. Mr. Gohil referred to the recent iPhone hacking alerts received by Opposition leaders and journalists, informing them their digital devices were being targeted by “state-sponsored attackers”.

We cannot compromise on the right to privacy, he added.

The Upper House has taken up the Post Office Bill, 2023, for discussion. The Bill is to replace the Indian Post Office Act (1898) in light of the changing role of post offices where its “network has become a vehicle for delivery of a variety of citizen-centric services”, the government said earlier.

The Minister, moving the Bill, said the legislation aims to make post offices as service centres, which can also provide banking facilities.

Post lunch, Rajya Sabha revoked suspension of AAP MP Raghav Chadha. 

The Upper House adopts a motion accepting the recommendations of the Privileges Committee that suspension of Mr. Chadha from August, 2023 can be considered as a punishment. He was under suspension for violating procedures by recommending names of MPs to a select committee without their consent.

The lower house commence proceedings after lunch. It is now taking up matters under Rule 377. 

A recap of the List of Business before Rajya Sabha, on the first day of the Winter Session of the Parliament.

1. A copy of the Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Eighth Amendment) Bill, 2023, is expected to be laid on the Table.
2. A Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs will present reports on the proposed criminal law reforms (the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Bill 2023, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita Bill 2023 and Bharatiya Sakshya Bill 2023).
3. The Minister of Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw is expected to move the Post Office Bill, 2023, which was introduced in the Upper House in August 2023. Read more about the Bill’s legal framework here.

In response to a question about the Union Government’s steps to curb petroleum and natural gas prices, Mr. Puri credited Prime Minister Modi and the government’s initiatives in bringing down both petrol and diesel prices. Namely, the central government excise duty in November 2021 and May 2022 helped bring down the prices.

Jagadambika Pal raises concern over the use of deepfakes. He told the house the artificial intelligence tool could be dangerous for both members and the public in general. He sought an inquiry be initiated moving towards an exhaustive legislation on the same. 

Member Sudip Bandopadhyay urged the union government to not block access to fund, to West Bengal, as part of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGA) and PM Awaas Yojna. According to him, the total dues now stood at Rs 18,000 crore. He also pointed to how members of his party could not meet the Minister of State to raise the same concern. He sought the funds be immediately disbursed and the issue discussed on the floor of the house. 

Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan stated the assertions were not correct. He told the house that the state government has misappropriated approx. Rs 4,000 crore allocated for mid-day meal scheme. Mr Pradhan added that the dispensation in Bengal would loot money meant for social welfare and direct it as “cut money” to party members. The Union Minister stated that an inquiry has been handed over to the CBI and their ministers would soon be heading to jail. He told the house that the ruling party in West Bengal waste the time of the parliament by engaging in misappropriation themselves. 

BJP’s Pabitra Margherita asked the Minister of Petroleum and Gas how people in Assam are benefiting from the accelerated pace of oil and gas PSUs functioning in the State. Hardeep Singh Puri listed the sanctioned projects, the development of hospitals in the area, adding that between 2014 and 2023, almost ₹1,600 crore was spent by oil and gas PSUs on CSR activities. 

YSRCP’s V. Vijayasai Reddy questioned Mr. Scindia about the findings of the latest CAG report, which found only 7% of routes under the RCS-UDAN scheme were sustainable beyond the three-year concession period.

Mr. Scindia objected to Mr. Reddy’s “glass half-empty approach”. He continued to list the UDAN scheme’s achievements which have brought 76 airports back on the map of India’s civil aviation industry. “It is only due to the efforts of Prime Minister that today 1.30 lakh passengers have travelled through UDAN scheme who could never dream of travelling in a plane before.... only because of his vision that the Northeast was brought from the periphery to the mainstream,” he said. “By 2030, India will have 42 crore travellers by civil aviation,” he projected.

Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury put forth an appeal for the government to be “proactive and strive hard” to persuade the Qatari govt and help the ex-Navy personnel be freed of the charges against them. “It is the concern of the families and the nation,” he told the chair. 

Haryana representative Kartikeya Sharma posed two questions: if the Ministry of Civil Aviation has taken steps to ensure the safety and security of passengers (particularly elderly people and those from rural areas) in light of reports highlighting their mistreatment, and if the Ministry plans to increase the number of pilot institutes given the demand in the aviation sector. 

In response, minister Jyotiraditya M. Scindia spoke about the UDAN Scheme’s achievements under the Prime Minister’s leadership. “For security, our institute BCAS (Bureau of Civil Aviation Security) keeps a keen watch on all airports and for safety DGCA issues CAR (Civil Aviation Rule) so that the safety of the passengers is kept in mind. Whenever any airline or airport is found guilty, a penalty is imposed on them,” he said. Mr. Scindia added that the aviation sector will continue to expand. He also answered a question about the non-functional Nanded Airport in Maharashtra.

Member from Mayiladuthurai in Tamil Nadu, S. Ramalingam sought that in light of the approaching Cyclone Michaung, the Union Govt consider sanctioning additional logistics and financial efforts to complement the state government’s efforts to minimise the impact of the cyclone. 

Baramati MP Supriya Sule raised concerns about the plight of farmers in Maharashtra. Ms Sule elaborated that the state has experienced disparate and uneven rainfall in varied regions as an after-effect of climate change. In this context, she sought that the union govt consider a loan write-off alongside endowing additional credit and education to farmers on how to deal with effects of climate change. 

The Deputy Chairman said multimedia devices may not display the list of questions “due to technical glitch” and mics may be switched off to reboot the system. 

The Upper House discussed the Silkyara tunnel collapse, which was part of the Char Dham all-weather accessibility project. Dr. V. Sivadasan of CPI(M) questioned the lapse in safety norms for workers, as well as the absence of a safety passage. He called for action against the “gross negligence on the part of the company”. 

BJP’s Ajay Pratap Singh, however, commended the Prime Minister, the rat-hole miners, Army and others who helped with the rescue of workers.

Proceedings commence in the house with member Kirit Premjibhai Solanki in the chair. He informs the house that none of the adjournment notices have been accorded consent by chair Om Birla. 

After the scheduled laying of papers on the table of the house, the house moved to hearing matters of public importance during the Zero Hour. 

Implementing the Uniform Civil Code will ‘kill India’s secularism’, threaten the rights of minorities and ‘potentially erode’ the distinct and unique make-up of India’s population, MP P. Wilson of DMK said in the Rajya Sabha. The comments invited dissent and objection from the House. Mr. Wilson said that instead of “thrusting a UCC that wipes out customs”, the Union Government should adopt a rights-based approach that looks after the interests of women, children and marginalised groups.

V. Vijayasai Reddy of YSRCP raised the issue of reservation for Backward Classes (BC) in Andhra Pradesh. The revision of the creamy layer limit is overdue, which has “denied reservations to many needy and backward classes”, and there is an “urgent need to revise income criteria”, said Mr. Reddy in the Rajya Sabha. He cited a report which recommends raising the limti from the present ₹8 lakh to ₹12 lakh. 

Rajya Sabha will hold a Privileges Committee meeting at 12:30 pm today in Parliament, over AAP MP Raghav Chadha’s suspension matter, ANI reported.

Mr. Chadha was suspended indefinitely from the Parliament on August 11, after facing allegations of not seeking permission from some MPs before including their names in a proposed select committee that would examine the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2023.

BJP MP Maharashtra Dhananjay Bhimrao drew attention to the plight of farmers in the region, who are affected by extreme weather events, and urged the government to offer compensation.

Dr. Fauzia Khan of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) raised the issue of growing screen time use among children, which hampers their social, emotional, physical and cognitive abilities. It also makes them vulnerable to child pornography. She proposed developing a policy framework that limits screen time use.

BSP MP Kunwar Danish Ali raised concerns about improper conduct by members of the treasury benches in the previous session of the parliament. Speaker Om Birla objected to Mr Ali holding placards in the house. He asked him to exit the premises. With Mr Ali continuing to raise his concerns, Speaker Om Birla adjourned the house until 12 noon. 

Rajya Sabha kicks off with speaker Jagdeep Dhankar reading out obituary references to parliamentarians who passed away, including Lalit Bhai Mehta, Dr. M.S. Swaminathan, Dr. M.S. Gill and D. B. Chandregowda.

Winter Session proceedings officially commence in the Lower House. Speaker Om Birla is reading out obituary references. 

Members from the treasury benches seen celebrating their recent electoral success in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. They echoed chants of “Modi Sarkaar, teesri baar” (Modi govt third time). 

Communist Party of India (CPI) MP Binoy Viswam has submitted a notice demanding the business of Rajya Sabha be suspended to discuss the Himalayas’ fragile ecology and the precarious living conditions of people who work there. 

The notice comes in the backdrop of Uttarakhand’s Shilkyara tunnel collapse, wherein 41 workers got trapped and were rescued after a 17-long day. “This is a matter of grave significance and cannot be overlooked,” Mr. Viswam stated. “The House must consider this alarming situation with urgency...the business of the house must be suspended and this issue taken up for discussion,” he added.