[The five amendments passed by the Rajya Sabha, by a fairly good margin - "the difference of votes ranging between 27 and 34 votes" (ref.: <http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/finance-bill-2017-amendments-rajya-sabha-lok-sabha-arun-jaitley/1/916134.html>), cannot, of course, determine the final outcome. But, it's no doubt an embarrassment for the ruling dispensation. And, Jaitley would, now, be forced to allow a debate in the Lok Sabha on the issues raised which he had so desperately tried to evade by taking recourse to very questionable trickeries.]
I/II http://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/opposition-embarrasses-govt-in-rajya-sabha-forces-changes-in-finance-bill-117033000072_1.html Opposition embarrasses govt in Rajya Sabha, forces changes in Finance Bill 3 of the 5 amendments were moved by Congress' Digvijaya Singh Archis Mohan | New Delhi March 30, 2017 Last Updated at 01:49 IST In a symbolic victory over the government, several Opposition parties came together in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday to force five amendments to the Finance Bill 2017-18. The government’s embarrassment will be short-lived since the Finance Bill is a “money Bill” and the Rajya Sabha can only recommend amendments. The amended Bill will now be sent to the Lok Sabha, where these amendments are set to be defeated. The voting on the Bill, however, underlined the government being in a minority in the House. The government claims this has hobbled its legislative agenda. Its strategists have been saying the government will be forced to convert all Bills into money Bills if the Rajya Sabha continues with stalling tactics. Uttar Pradesh rivals Samajwadi Party (SP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) voted together, along with the Congress and members of Left parties for the amendments. The SP and BSP have shown unity of purpose in Parliament after being drubbed in the recent Assembly polls in UP. The Trinamool Congress staged a strategic walkout. All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) members made themselves scarce at the time of voting, while Biju Janata Dal (BJD) members were also absent. After the BJP’s recent electoral victories, the Trinamool has recalibrated its approach towards the Modi government. It has dropped its earlier aggression, to adopt an “issue-based” approach. Three of the five amendments were moved by the Congress’ Digvijaya Singh, and the other two by Communist Party of India (Marxist) chief Sitaram Yechury. ***Two amendments moved by Singh related to the Finance Bill giving more powers to income tax officials. The Congress leader said the Bill gives “unbridled” powers to the tax bureaucracy for search and seizure, which would lead to harassment of taxpayers.*** [Emphasis added.] ***His other amendment related to the Finance Bill’s proposal to tighten rules that regulate charitable organisations run by companies. The Congress MP said the Modi government has carried out a sustained campaign against non-governmental organisations.*** [Emphasis added.] ***Yechury moved two amendments related to clauses dealing with political funding. He said the Finance Bill’s lifting of restrictions on money donated to political parties by corporate groups would lead to floating of shell companies for money laundering, and increase the play of money in the political system, which would further distort democracy.*** [Emphasis added.] Several members, including BJP ally Shiromani Akali Dal member Naresh Gujral, criticised the proposal to give more power to junior-level tax officers. Singh said this would lead to inspector raj. “There is a concern that you are empowering junior officials while taking away power from the senior officials who sit in the tribunals,” Gujral said. Congress’ Jairam Ramesh accused the government of “Finance Bill terrorism”, with an agenda to reduce Parliament to irrelevance. On his electoral funding proposals, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the ruling is “large hearted” in framing a scheme under which people would be without fear of consequences willing to give to somebody who was not in power. He also tried to allay Opposition’s apprehensions on the merger of tribunals. He said misgivings on more powers to tax officials were misplaced. II. http://indianexpress.com/article/india/finance-bill-amendments-parliament-made-irrelevant-opposition-4591736/ Parliament made irrelevant: Opposition Attacks govt for way Finance Bill passed, move to make Aadhaar compulsory for filing I-T returns Written by Amitabh Sinha | New Delhi | Updated: March 30, 2017 7:15 am With the fate of the Finance Bill always apparent, the Opposition today charged the government with subverting democracy and violating “the basic spirit of Constitution” by trying to circumvent the jurisdiction and powers of Rajya Sabha. “The constitutional integrity has been seriously compromised… you [the government] have violated the basic spirit of the Constitution,” Tapan Kumar Sen of the CPM said. He said Rajya Sabha was becoming party to a “crime on the Constitution” by failing to prevent the government from passing the Finance Bill in the way it was being passed. ***The Opposition was angry with the fact that the Finance Bill, which deals with all the new financial proposals at the start of the year, contained provisions to make far-reaching changes in a number of other legislation which would normally have been done through separate standalone bills. Incorporating them in the Finance Bill ensured that Rajya Sabha, which has no powers to change or amend a money bill, would have little or no say on these changes.*** [Emphasis added.] “This is not a Finance Bill. This is much more than just a Finance Bill. This is actually an agenda for reducing the Parliament to complete irrelevance, both the Houses… The finance minister has really made a serious effort to finish off the spirit of democratic discourse, to finish off parliamentary democracy to not only reduce Rajya Sabha to irrelevance but also to reduce Lok Sabha to complete irrelevance,” Jairam Ramesh of the Congress said. His colleague Digvijaya Singh said the government had made a habit of converting all its uncomfortable legislation into money bills because its lack of majority in Rajya Sabha. ***“There are 40 laws which are sought to be amended through provisions brought in this Finance Bill. Except three — part 7, part 10 and part 13 — all of them are ordinary bills and should not have been part of the Finance Bill.*** [Emphasis added.] This means that the government has snatched away the right of Rajya Sabha to discuss and make amendments to all these laws,” Digvajaya said. Digvijaya later moved three amendments to the Finance Bill. These were accepted by the House, thanks to the Opposition majority in Rajya Sabha. The amendments, a temporary setback to the government, are likely to be rejected by the Lok Sabha. ***Several Opposition members objected to the proposals making Aadhar mandatory for opening of bank accounts or filing income tax returns. K T S Tulsi alleged that the government had not given any serious thought to the possibilities of data theft. “It can jeopardise the privacy and security of citizens and no attention is being paid for safeguarding the data from hackers… Unless we can safeguard the data, only then can it be permitted to be used for the purpose for which the Act was enacted and only for the use of services,” he said.*** [Emphasis added.] Harivansh of the JD(U) said his party welcomed the efforts to reform the process of political funding but argued that the proposals made in the budget with this objective, and incorporated in the Finance Bill, were not enough. “There have been 40 committees to recommend actions to tackle black money but there has been no effective implementation. Similar is the case with political corruption. We would like the Congress and the BJP, being the two biggest parties which have run governments at the Centre, to come together on this and suggest measures that are acceptable to all,” he said. -- Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
