Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla with members of Joint Parliamentary Committee on Waqf (Amendment) Bill during a meeting, in New Delhi. | Photo Credit: PTI

JPC members on waqf Bill seek more time for deliberations

Opposition members in JPC meet Lok Sabha Speaker urging him to direct panel chairperson Jagdambika Pal not to rush through the report

by · The Hindu

Opposition members in the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill met Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Monday, urging him to direct panel chairperson and BJP MP Jagdambika Pal not to rush through the report.

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Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Aam Aadmi Party MP Sanjay Singh said the report should be prepared only after listening to arguments from different parties. He said Mr. Birla patiently listened to the Opposition MPs and assured them that he would extend the time limit for submitting the report on waqf. The Opposition, Mr. Singh said, raised three objections. One, the tour to Karnataka was conducted without keeping the members in the loop and therefore it did not have the necessary quorum. Second, there were still several places that the panel wanted to visit and had not yet scheduled. Third, the discussion on the Ministry’s report was still pending and several members of the Waqf Board were yet to come before the JPC.

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“The JPC report is prepared after listening to all the arguments from different parties. You cannot write and submit a JPC report overnight by forcefully holding hands. The Speaker listened to all these things very politely and assured us that he would extend the time limit for submitting our report to the JPC,” Mr. Singh said.

Even though the panel’s report is pending, the government has listed the Bill for this session of Parliament, which was also pointed out by the members. 

Published - November 25, 2024 06:58 pm IST