Winter session of Parliament ends; GST Bill remains pending

New Delhi: The stormy Winter session of Parliament ended on Wednesday, leaving the crucial economic reform bill GST pending and evoking some strong comments by Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari who asked MPs to introspect and desist from "demeaning the stature" of the House.

The Session, which began on November 26, had 20 sittings in all and out of this, Rajya Sabha lost 47 hours due to disruptions caused almost every day by Congress which raised one issue after another.

The Lok Sabha performed a little better as it passed 13 bills and saw discussions over various issues like price rise, flood and drought situation, despite repeated uproar created by the opposition Congress over various issues.

The Rajya Sabha, which saw passage of nine bills, could not, however, clear the pending GST bill, which provides for overhauling the direct tax structure of the country as Congress steadfastly maintained its opposition to it.

But the parties, except the Left, came together in the Upper House yesterday to pass the Juvenile Justice Bill under which the age of trying a juvenile as an adult in heinous crimes like rape was brought down from 18 years to 16 years.

The House virtually rushed to pass this pending bill against the backdrop of the public outrage over the release of a juvenile convict in the December 2012 gangrape-cum-murder after spending three years in a reform home.

The disruptions in both Houses were caused over issues like summons by a Delhi court to Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in the National Herald case, atrocities on dalits, role of Arunachal Pradesh Governor and demand for resignation of Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in connection with alleged irregularities in DDCA.

The Rajya Sabha also saw uproar over Congress member Kumari Selja's remark about being asked about her caste at a temple in Gujarat, alleged anti-Dalit remarks of Minister V K Singh and RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat's reported comments on Ram temple in Ayodhya.

Read:

Winter session of Lok Sabha ends, 13 bills passed amid din

Rajya Sabha passes 3 bills without debate, Left walks out in protest

Taking a serious view of the disruptions, the Rajya Sabha Chairman asked the MPs "to introspect on this state of affairs (and) desist from approaches and practices that demean the stature of the Rajya Sabha."

The session began with a two-day discussion on the Constitution to mark the 125th anniversary of B R Ambedkar, the architect of the national document.

Reminding members about that, Ansari lamented that the record of this session belied the commitment to the principles of the Constitution "in good measure".

He appealed to the members "to introspect on this state of affairs (and) desist from approaches and practices that demean the stature of the Rajya Sabha".

"The 237th Session of the Rajya Sabha, that last week seemed singularly unproductive in terms of legislative work, comes to an end this afternoon after having redeemed itself somewhat in the past three days," he said in his valedictory remarks before adjourning the House sine die.

"A functioning legislature is an essential concomitant of these principles; disruptions amount to their negation. The record of this session belies this commitment in good measure," the Chairman said.

The interruptions in the functioning of the House, he said sought to be "justified by specious logic by different sections of the House at different times to suit their tactics of the moment", continue to result in loss of working time and neglect of listed business.

Ansari said interruptions denied members the opportunity to seek accountability of the executive through questions, 'Zero Hour' issues, discussions and debates on issues of public interest and concern. The disruptions also reduced or eliminated opportunity to scrutinise legislative proposals.

"This state of affairs is at times attributed by sections of opinion to lack of disciplinary control over the proceedings," he said.

Ansari said "vehemence in language or behaviour resulting in obstruction of proceedings, apart from interruption and neglect of listed agenda," also resulted in violation of privileges of individual Members themselves. "It reflects adversely on the parliamentary process and our commitment to it. There is an imperative need to dispel this impression," the Chairman said.

Ansari said the Chair appreciated the view that a political assembly works on its perception of public impulses. "Normal disciplinary procedures, therefore, have their limitations. The counterpart of this approach is self-discipline and a commitment to fulfil the objectives and purposes of a legislative body," he said.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu attacked Congress for using its numbers to "paralyse" Rajya Sabha and backed the "campaign" for "redefining" the role of the Upper House as the two Houses are "pulling in different directions".

Holding that the country is "disappointed" with the functioning of Parliament, Naidu accused the Congress of "cheating the people" by not allowing the government to do "what is expected of it".