More Stories

Informist, Monday, Nov. 25, 2024

 

NEW DELHI – The members of the opposition parties on Monday requested Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to extend the tenure of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on Waqf Amendment Bill 2024 "by a reasonable time" for proper consultation and deliberation. The committee was constituted on Aug. 9 for wider scrutiny of the Waqf Amendment Bill. The committee was scheduled to submit the report to the Lok Sabha by the first week of the Winter Session. Parliament's Winter Session started on Monday and is scheduled to end on Dec. 20.

 

All India Trinamool Congress leader and Lok Sabha member Kalyan Banerjee, who was one of the members who met Birla in Parliament House, said the speaker has assured the opposition members that he will consider the extension of the committee.

 

The committee held its first meeting on Aug. 22 and has so far held 25 sittings. Opposition members alleged that the committee has included "evidence/presentation by various irrelevant organisations and individuals". "At the same time, various state governments, including Bihar, New Delhi, and Uttar Pradesh are yet to present before the committee. Furthermore, various representative stakeholder organisations are still seeking time before the Committee to present their views," the letter submitted by the opposition members said.

 

The opposition members said, "Mere three months time before the report is finalised is not only inadequate but may result in improper recommendations. In order for proper consultation and deliberation, the committee’s tenure must be extended by a reasonable time."

 

The opposition parties said that the Waqf Amendment Bill is an expansive legislation that involves many major changes to existing law and will affect a large section of the society.

 

Bharatiya Janata Party leader and committee Chairman Jagdambika Pal said that the committee is ready to submit the report, which is of around 500 pages. Earlier on Thursday, Pal announced that Thursday's sitting was the last and that the committee secretariat would shortly be distributing the draft report.

 

On Aug. 8, the Waqf Amendment Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha by Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju. The bill seeks to amend the Waqf Act, 1995 for effective management of assets and administration of waqf. The Bill seeks to omit Section 40 of the Waqf Act, which empowered the board to decide if a property was a waqf property. It seeks to streamline the registration of waqfs through a central portal and database. It also makes it mandatory for every waqf to file the details of the waqf and the property dedicated to it on the portal and database, within six months. The provision will have a retrospective effect.

 

The opposition parties had opposed the Bill and alleged that it was brought without consultation with stakeholders. They called it anti-Muslim, against cooperative federalism and politically motivated. The Opposition also alleged that the Bill violated the constitutional right to freedom of religion.  End

 

Reported by Kuldeep Singh

Edited by Akul Nishant Akhoury

 

For users of real-time market data terminals, Informist news is available exclusively on the NSE Cogencis WorkStation.

 

Cogencis news is now Informist news. This follows the acquisition of Cogencis Information Services Ltd by NSE Data & Analytics Ltd, a 100% subsidiary of the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd. As a part of the transaction, the news department of Cogencis has been sold to Informist Media Pvt Ltd.

 

Informist Media Tel +91 (11) 4220-1000

Send comments to feedback@informistmedia.com

 

© Informist Media Pvt. Ltd. 2024. All rights reserved.