In a rare move, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has nominated two Rajya Sabha members as “special invitees” to the joint parliamentary committee examining the contentious Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026.
According to a Lok Sabha bulletin, Javed Ali Khan and James Pangsang Kongkal Sangma have been nominated as special invitees to the 31-member Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC), which will hold its first meeting on Friday.
Former Lok Sabha secretary general P D T Achari told PTI that under Rule 299 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha, MPs who are not members of a committee can attend its deliberations but cannot address the panel or sit among its members.
Achari said MPs with special interests or expertise in a particular field can be appointed as special invitees. They can sit alongside officials during committee meetings but cannot sit with the committee members, he said.
The JPC was constituted earlier this month after Parliament referred the FCRA Bill to it for detailed examination amid opposition demands for its withdrawal.
The panel, headed by BJP's Sanjay Jaiswal, has 21 Lok Sabha members and 10 Rajya Sabha members and will examine the Bill's provisions before submitting its report.
(With inputs from PTI)