Bill to abolish nine appellate tribunals passed in Parliament

Amidst the uproar over the Pegasus issue, the opposition was defeated in the division of votes on the bill.

The Tribunal Reform Bill was cleared in the Rajya Sabha on Monday amid uproar over the Pegasus issue, while the Lok Sabha passed it on August 3. Thus this bill got the approval of the Parliament. The bill seeks to abolish nine appellate tribunals. These include the Film Certification Appellate Tribunal.

The bill was introduced in the Rajya Sabha by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. It was approved by voice vote. The opposition urged to send it to the Select Committee, but it was rejected through division of votes. As soon as the bill was passed, the opposition members came to the sanctum sanctorum and started creating ruckus regarding agricultural law, espionage and other matters. Parliament on Monday approved the ‘Tribunals Reform Bill, 2021’ amid an uproar by opposition members. Earlier, the House rejected the opposition’s motion to send the bill to a select committee after the division. The House rejected the opposition’s motion by a vote of 79 to 44. This bill, once it becomes law, will replace the relevant ordinance which was issued on April 4, 2021. The House also rejected the motion to reject the ordinance by voice vote. The Bill was briefly discussed in the House amid uproar by opposition members demanding discussion on various issues including Pegasus espionage, agricultural law, inflation. However, at the time of division of votes, there was peace in the House and all the members were in their places. Participating in the discussion, most of the members supported the Bill. The members stressed the need to quickly fill up vacancies in tribunals, increase the budgetary allocation for the judiciary and provide infrastructure to the courts. Responding to the discussion, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman made a scathing attack on the main opposition Congress and said that the party which imposed Emergency in the country is talking about judicial independence. He said that the government not only respects judicial independence but is also committed to it. Taking a jibe at the members who were creating ruckus in the House, Nirmala said that the work of making laws for the common people is also important and they will get relief from the provisions of this bill. He said the Supreme Court had questioned certain provisions of the Bill. He said that there are a large number of pending cases in the courts.

What are the provisions of the bill?
In this bill, amendments have been made in some other Acts including Films Act 1952, Customs Act 1962, Airport Authority of India Act 1994, Trade Marks Act 1999, Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers Rights Act 2001. The Objects and Reasons of the Bill states that the Supreme Court in several of its judgments has opposed direct appeals from tribunals to the Supreme Court. Therefore, further simplification of the tribunals was considered necessary as it would save substantial expenditure in the exchequer and provide speedy justice. It said that in such a situation the ‘Tribunals Reforms (Streamlining and Conditions of Service) Bill, 2021’ was introduced in the Lok Sabha on 13 February 2021 but it could not be passed in the budget session. Since there was an urgent need for legislation in this regard, the President promulgated the Tribunals Reforms (Streamlining and Conditions of Service) Ordinance, 2021 on April 4, 2021.

Lok Sabha adjourned till 11 am on Tuesday
On Monday, the Lok Sabha was adjourned till 11 am on Tuesday after four adjournments due to uproar by members of opposition parties over the Pegasus espionage case, the Centre’s demand to withdraw three new agricultural laws and some other issues. . Due to this, Union Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Arjun Ram Meghwal attacked the opposition and said that this situation would not have come if the MPs had not snatched the paper on the Pegasus issue by snatching it from their hands. For this, those MPs were also suspended. Even if someone does not apologize even after doing so much wrong behavior, then it shows who wants to run the house and who does not.
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Notice of Adjournment Motion in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha
Congress MP Deepender Singh Hooda gave Adjournment Motion Notice in Rajya Sabha over farmers’ protest. Congress MP Manickam Tagore gave Adjournment Motion Notice in Lok Sabha to discuss Pegasus Project. Aam Aadmi Party MP Sanjay Singh has given Zero Hour notice in Rajya Sabha over the alleged rape and murder of a nine-year-old girl in Delhi and the law and order situation in the national capital.