Parliament clears six Bills amid opposition protests

The Monsoon Session of Parliament saw some brisk passage of Bills as it entered the last lap amind protests by opposition parties over the Pegasus snooping allegations.

The Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha passed three Bills each amid protests in the lower house and an opposition walkout in the house of elders.

The Rajya Sabha passed the Tribunals Reforms Bill that seeks to abolish nine appellate tribunals, including the Film Certification Appellate Tribunal, and refer matters before them to different courts.

The Rajya Sabha returned the Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill that seeks to bury the ghost of retrospective taxation, thus helping the government end cases in domestic courts and international arbitration tribunals.

Read | Amid Opposition protests, 3 bills passed in Lok Sabha, 3 others introduced; Congress says democracy 'murdered'

The opposition staged a walkout as the government brought the taxation bill and the Central Universities Amendment Bill through a supplementary agenda on Monday afternoon.

In the Lok Sabha, the government pushed through three Bills despite the unrelenting Opposition protests over Pegasus snooping row and other issues.

The Bills that were passed amid the din were --The Limited Liability Partnership (Amendment) Bill 2021, The Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (Amendment) Bill 2021 and The Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Amendment) Bill 2021.

The government also introduced two other Bills – The National Commission for Homoeopathy (Amendment) Bill, 2021 and The National Commission for Indian System of Medicine (Amendment) Bill, 2021 amid accusations by the opposition Congress of “murdering democracy”.

However, the entire opposition was back in their respective seats as Social Justice Minister Virendra Kumar rose to introduce the Constitution (127th) Amendment Bill in the Lok Sabha. The Bill seeks to restore the rights of the states to prepare the lists of OBCs.

The opposition was back to its protests soon after the OBC Bill was introduced and forced repeated adjournments of the proceedings in the Lok Sabha.