To keep land ordinance alive, govt moves to prorogue Rajya Sabha

Farmers protest against land acquisition in Ranchi.

Faced with a roadblock in Rajya Sabha on the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Bill, 2015, the government on Friday began the process to prorogue Rajya Sabha, so that the corresponding ordinance can be repromulgated.

The existing executive order will lapse on April 5.

“The Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs (CCPA) met today and decided to recommend a prorogation of the Rajya Sabha with an immediate effect,” Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu told reporters after the CCPA meeting.

Asked when the government intended to issue the ordinance afresh, Naidu said, “You will come to know when the decision is taken.”

The Indian Express first reported in its edition of March 17 that the government intended to prorogue Parliament after it went into a break on March 20. Prorogation is one of the ways available to the President for terminating a session of Parliament.

The Budget session, which began on February 23, is set to conclude on May 8. The two Houses will meet again on April 20. An ordinance is valid for six months, but it has to be endorsed by Parliament within six weeks of the beginning of the next session. An ordinance cannot be issued when Parliament is in session. However, it is possible to do so if at least one of the two Houses has been prorogued.

The CCPA meeting was held at the residence of the CCPA chairman, Home Minister Rajnath Singh. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Naidu, and his deputy, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, attended.

The new version of the ordinance will include all the nine official amendments that were incorporated when the corresponding Bill was passed by Lok Sabha. The Council of Ministers had accorded its ex post facto approval to these amendments on Wednesday.

While the government may agree to tweak some clauses to take the entire Sangh Parivar, NDA partners and other parties on board, it is disinclined to give in to any pressure from the Congress-led Opposition.

The government has to bring a fresh Bill in Lok Sabha all over again and get it passed. If the Bill is defeated in Rajya Sabha, the government can push it through at a joint sitting of the two Houses.

Source:: Indian Express