New Delhi: CPI MP P Sandosh Kumar wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju on Monday, alleging impropriety of procedure in presenting the report of a joint parliamentary committee on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill in both Houses of Parliament.
In identical letters sent to Birla, Dhankhar and Rijiju, the Communist Party of India (CPI) leader said the ministers of the Union Cabinet do not have any locus standi as far as the JPC report is concerned.
He said the admission by the ministers themselves on the floor of the House that they were aware of the proceedings of the JPC can be presumed to be an indication of the indirect influence wielded by the executive on Parliament and its functioning.
He also said some ministers made "divergent statements" about the expunctions.
"The report of the JPC on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024 was presented to the Speaker, Lok Sabha on January 30, 2025. The speaker had ordered the printing, publication and circulation of the report on the same day itself under Rule 280 of the Lok Sabha Rules of Procedure," the Rajya Sabha member said, adding that accordingly, the report was uploaded on the Digital Sansad website on that day itself.
He said Annexure IV of the report, which contained the dissent notes of some members of the JPC both from the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha, had several pages and portions expunged.
"On protests by the members of the Rajya Sabha, some of whom were members of the JPC, on February 13, 2025, the day on which the report was listed to be presented to Parliament, some ministers made divergent statements as to the expunction of the dissent notes, which shows their lack of understanding of the rules and procedure," Kumar said.
"Later on, after the presentation of the report, a corrigendum to Annexure IV of the report was also tabled in the Rajya Sabha. However, the report presented in the Lok Sabha does not indicate any such corrigendum to the original report, which was presented to the speaker on January 30, 2025. The modified report was uploaded on the Digital Sansad website on February 13, 2025," he added.
The Left leader said it is "crystal clear" that the dissent notes were modified as an afterthought.
"It is neither reflected in the proceedings of the Lok Sabha nor in the report uploaded on the Digital Sansad website on February 13, 2025. The publication of the report without reflecting properly the later modification is tantamount to misrepresentation of facts and misleading Parliament and the general public," he added.
Kumar said the home minister's statement in the Lok Sabha that the ruling party has no objection to the inclusion of the dissent notes in the report "smacks of the pure authoritarian approach of this government".
"Moreover, why does a JPC, which has an independent existence from the executive and is supposed to oversee its functions, require the ruling party's opinion or acceptance to publish its report in whatever form it desires? This shows clearly that Parliament's authority is being undermined by the executive and the ruling party and their undue interference therein," he said.
The CPI MP asserted that the ministers of the Union Cabinet do not have any locus standi as far as the JPC report is concerned.
"The JPC was constituted by Parliament to examine, study and report on the Bill and only the presiding officers have powers over the committee. All other members, including ministers, are equally placed in this regard and the admission by the ministers themselves that they were aware of the proceedings of the JPC much more than others, that too on the floor of the House, can be safely presumed to be a clear indication of the indirect influence wielded by the executive on Parliament and its functioning," he said.
Kumar said the speaker can decide on any expunction carried out in the JPC report, which shall be deemed to be final, and the speaker himself has admitted so in the Lok Sabha.
"But his decision taken after the presentation of the report needs to be clearly indicated in the report. I hope your office will address these improprieties in the manner appropriate, publicise the details and correct the anomalies," he added.
The report of the Joint Committee on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill was tabled in both Houses of Parliament on Thursday.
Committee Chairman Jagdambika Pal had redacted parts of the dissent notes, contending that those had cast aspersions on the parliamentary panel and made personal allegations against him.
The Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha witnessed stormy scenes, with opposition members trooping to the wells of the respective Houses, protesting against the "undemocratic" action of the committee chairman.
In the face of the opposition protests in the Lok Sabha, Home Minister Amit Shah said the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has no objection to attaching the notes of dissent to the report submitted by the opposition in accordance with parliamentary practice.
A corrigendum to Appendix 5 of the report, which contained the dissent notes, was tabled in the Rajya Sabha later in the day. PTI AO RC
