IN the scheduled Winter Session of Parliament beginning from November 29, the Government of India is all set to introduce a total of 26 new Bills on the different range of subject matters. Of them, three Bills would be introduced to replace Ordinances, namely – the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotic Substances (Amendment) Ordinance, 2021 (NDPS Amendment Ordinance), the Central Vigilance Commission (Amendment) Ordinance, 2021 (CVC Amendment Ordinance) and the Delhi Special Police Establishment (Amendment) Ordinance, 2021 (DSPE Amendment Ordinance).
The Lok Sabha secretariat on Tuesday released a bulletin which provides details of the three Bills that were introduced in the Lok Sabha already but were referred to Parliamentary Standing Committees. They are – the Assisted Reproductive Technology Regulation Bill, 2020, the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (Amendment) Bill, 2021, and the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens (Amendment) Bill, 2019.
The government needs Parliamentary approval to the three Ordinances because under Article 123(2)(a) of the Constitution, every Ordinance is required to be laid before both Houses of Parliament and shall cease to operate at the expiration of six weeks from the reassembly of Parliament, or, if before the expiration of that period resolutions disapproving it are passed by both Houses.
The NDPS Amendment Ordinance was issued on September 30 this year to rectify a drafting error. Under the NDPS Act, financing certain illicit activities (such as cultivating cannabis, or manufacturing narcotic drugs) or harbouring persons engaged in them, is an offence. Persons found guilty of this offence will be punished with rigorous imprisonment of at least ten years (extendable up to 20 years) and a fine of at least one lakh rupees.
When the NDPS Act was amended in 2014, the clause number of the definition for such illicit activities was changed. However, the section on penalty for financing these illicit activities was not amended and continued to refer to the earlier clause number of the definition. The Ordinance amended the section on penalty to change the reference to the new clause number.
The CVC and the DSPE Amendment Ordinances were promulgated by the President earlier this month to make the respective tenures of the Director, Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Director, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), extendable up to five years from the existing fixed tenure of two years.
In the meanwhile, the All India Trinamool Congress party has raised objection to the Ordinances route for the extension of the tenures questioning the government's hurry at a time when the winter session of Parliament was barely two weeks away. It moved notices for statutory resolutions in the Rajya Sabha objecting to the Ordinances, and its Member of Parliament Mahua Moitra recently challenged the ordinances before the Supreme Court.
The Union Finance Ministry will introduce 'The Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2021' that seeks to create a facilitative framework for the creation of the official digital currency to be issued by the Reserve Bank of India. The Bill also seeks to prohibit all private cryptocurrencies in India. However, it allows for certain exceptions to promote the underlying technology of cryptocurrency and its uses.
Earlier this month, a Parliamentary panel reached a consensus that cryptocurrency cannot be stopped but must be regulated. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Securities and Exchange Board of India have voiced concerns about the unregulated growth of cryptocurrencies in India, keeping vulnerable retail investors in mind.
"On crypto … we have serious concerns from the point of view of macroeconomic and financial stability. How the issue has to be dealt with – we have given our detailed suggestions to the government; as far as I know, the matter is under the active consideration of the government, and the government will decide," RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das had said at a media event.
Besides, the Law Ministry intends to introduce the Bill on Mediation to propose for pre-litigation mediation and at the same time place safeguards in the interest of the litigants to approach the competent adjudicatory forums/courts in case an urgent relief is sought. The Ministry had released the draft bill on mediation last month.
In July this year, the Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana stressed the need to have a law making mediation the mandatory first step in the dispute resolution process.
As announced by the Prime Minister last week, the Government has listed 'The Farm Laws Repeal Bill, 2021' in the House to repeal the three contentious farm laws, namely the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020, and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.
The Government will also be moving 'The National Anti-Doping Bill, 2021' to provide a legislative framework to the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) for meeting the obligations of India under the Convention and the obligations of NADA as a signatory of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Code, as amended from time to time.
The Bill to prevent and combat trafficking in persons, especially women and children, and to provide for care, protection, assistance and rehabilitation to trafficking victims, is also listed for introduction in Parliament. The Bill is titled as 'The Trafficking of Persons (Prevention, Protection and Rehabilitation) Bill, 2021'.
The Union Government also wishes to introduce 'The Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2021' to facilitate de-licensing of power distribution so as to encourage competition between private sector and state-owned companies, and the appointment of a member with law background in the Regulatory Commissions. The bill will also help to strengthen the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity (APTEL), apart from providing penalty for noncompliance of Renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO), and prescribing rights and duties of consumers.
The other Bills that the Union Government will be introducing to the House, and their objectives in brief, are as follows:
Click here to read the Lok Sabha bulletin
(Paras Nath Singh is a Delhi-based lawyer.)