LS showdown over JPC’s power to add new provisions in Waqf bill, Home Minister rebuts charges

New Delhi:  As Union Minister for Minority Affairs Kiren Rijiju introduced the Waqf Amendment Bill in Lok Sabha, the House witnessed noisy protests by the Opposition, prompting Home Minister Amit Shah to rebut charges.

The Opposition accused the government of bulldozing the legislation and not giving ample time for discussion.

N.K. Chandran, an RSP leader from Kerala, raised strong objections to the amendments moved by the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the Waqf Bill and slammed the government for ‘bypassing’ the constitutional mandate.

“Additional clauses have been brought in the Waqf bill by the JPC. We are not debating the original bill,” he said.

He questioned the JPC’s right to incorporate ‘new and extraneous’ provisions in the bill and said that it is beyond its ambit and purview to add any clauses.

“Even the Parliament doesn’t have the authority to incorporate a new provision without suspending Rule 81. JPC can recommend the amendments, but it doesn’t have the right to alter the nature of the bill by bringing in changes,” he said.

Home Minister Amit Shah was quick to rebut the Opposition’s charges as baseless and unsubstantiated, stating that if the JPC couldn’t suggest the changes, the whole purpose of due deliberations would stand defeated.

“It was the Union Cabinet which approved the Waqf Amendment Bill and tabled it in the Lok Sabha last year. Based on the demands of the Opposition, it was then sent to the JPC. Its recommendations were again sent to the Union Cabinet and duly approved. It was after this that the Minority Affairs Minister re-introduced the bill. Hence, there is nothing illegal,” Amit Shah pointed out.

He also took a sharp jibe at the Congress, claiming that Joint Committees during the grand old party’s regimes were mere rubber-stamps, but that was not the case under NDA.

“These are fully democratic bodies, where due deliberations and brainstorming sessions are held. If there is no debate and deliberation, what’s the meaning of the Committee?” HM Shah further said.

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla also rejected the Opposition’s ‘JPC’s new clauses’ charge and set the records straight by stating the law.

“Joint Parliamentary Committees have abundant powers to bring in changes in any legislation. These committees are empowered to alter any legislation or suggest a complete revamp, without affecting its principle,” the Speaker told the House.

“It can also change the name of legislation; recent past saw many such amendments,” he added.

–IANS