Parliamentary select committee gets more time to decide on Land Bill

New Delhi: With the Monsoon Session of Parliament commencing from Tuesday, the amendment to the Land Acquisition Bill faces an uncertain future. Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan has given her nod to an extension till the first week of August for the parliamentary select committee examining the proposed Bill to submit its report.

The select panel, which has not yet completed the formalities of examining all stakeholders and officials, was originally given till the first week of the commencement of the Monsoon Session of Parliament to submit its report. The Lok Sabha Speaker gave her approval for the extension of the deadline after she received a letter from panel chairman S.S. Ahluwalia.

The members of the panel want to examine secretaries of the ministries concerned before they submit their comments on the amendments to the Bill sought by the government. The panel, however, has examined diverse sections of stakeholders.

Sources, however, said the panel is unlikely to finalise the report even by the new deadline as members from the Opposition parties are not keen to push ahead to conclude their work. In such an event, sources said, the panel is likely to ask for a further extension of the deadline, which may overstep the duration of the Monsoon Session.

Meanwhile, Mr Ahluwalia is likely to move a motion in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday to extend the deadline to August 3 for submission of the report. Since the panel, with a specific mandate, was constituted through a resolution passed by the Lok Sabha, the extension would need to go through a similar procedure.

Sources said the government would have to promulgate another ordinance on the Land Acquisition Bill after already coming out with three ordinances even though the Bill was once passed by the Lok Sabha but had lapsed.