Chaos erupted in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday after the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) tabled its report on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, as opposition members protested, accusing the government of removing their dissenting notes.
The report was tabled by BJP member Medha Vishram Kulkarni, a member of the panel. Notably, the panel had submitted its report to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Jan. 30.
The tabling of the report was followed by uproar by members from the opposition benches. The clamour continued as Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar tried to read out a message from the president.
"Don't show disrespect to the president of India...," Dhankhar said and urged Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge to ask the opposition members to take their seats.
However, Opposition members contiuned to raise slogans, prompting Dhankhar to adjourn proceedings for 10 minutes until 11:20 am.
The session resumed as opposition and treasury bench members continued discussions on the bill.
Kharge called the JPC report anti-democratic and urged the RS chairman to reject it, accusing the government of deleting opposition dissent.
"In the JPC report on the Waqf Board, many members have their dissent report... It is not right to remove those notes and bulldoze our views... This is anti-democratic... I condemn any report that has been presented after deleting the dissent reports," the Congress President said.
"We will never accept such fake reports... If the report does not have dissent views, it should be sent back and presented again," he added.
Terming Kharge's allegations as false, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said that dissent notes had been attached in the report's appendix.
"There is no deletion or removal from the report. Everything is on the floor of the House. On what basis can such an issue be raised? The members of the Opposition are creating an unnecessary issue, which is not a fact. The allegation is false," Rijiju said.
"The JPC conducted entire proceedings as per the rules... All Opposition members of the JPC participated in all the proceedings in the last six months... All dissent notes are attached in the Appendix of the report... They cannot mislead the House," he added.
Later at a press conference in Parliament House complex, Rijiju said, "If there is something in the note which the chairman feels is tantamount to casting aspersions on the committee itself, he has power to remove it."
If the members have any objection, they can appeal before the chairman of the committee, the Parliamentary Affairs minister said.
"It is wrong to say that opposition dissent was not included in the report," the minister said, adding all reports are included in the JPC report.
"Some of the points which amount to casting aspersion on the committee itself have been removed. The chairman of the committee has powers to do so," he said, asserting, "Everything has been done as per rules."
Earlier today, BJP MP Jagadambika Pal who chaired the JPC on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, said that panel presented its report after six months of nationwide consultations. He emphasised the committee toured the country to collect inputs before finalizing the report, which included the adoption of 25 amendments across 14 clauses.
"Today, the JPC will produce its report in the Parliament. To have a detailed discussion and deliberation, the JPC was formed six months ago. In the last six months, we have prepared a report after touring the whole nation. We have adopted 25 amendments in 14 clauses," Pal said.
Meanwhile, Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi said that instead of focusing on the already available Waqf Act, an attempt is being made to bring a politically motivated amendment. He asserted that several members of parliament have expressed their dissent in the JPC report, highlighting the constitutional negligence caused by this bill.
"Currently, there is an act that manages Waqf properties, and instead of focusing on how the government can better implement this act, an attempt has been made to bring a politically motivated amendment," Gogoi said.
Congress MP KC Venugopal also slammed the Centre and said that the way in which the JPC conducted, it "was wrong."
The JPC on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill adopted the draft report and the amended revised bill on January 29. However, opposition leaders submitted their dissent notes on the report.
Trinamool Congress MPs Kalyan Banerjee and Md Nadimul Haque, who were members of the panel, had protested "the expunction of key portions of their dissent notes" submitted to the JPC. They alleged that the committee's conclusions were biased and predetermined and claimed that the panel had ignored stakeholder representations, witness depositions, and submissions made by opposition members.
(With inputs from PTI and ANI)
