Communist Party of India (Marxist) MP moves privilege notice against Arun Jaitley and Dharmendra Pradhan, ministers in the NDA Government

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPM] on Friday moved a notice of privilege against Finance minister Arun Jaitley and Petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan for increasing the excise duty on petrol and diesel when a statutory motion against the earlier notification to hike the excise duty on petrol and diesel is pending with the Upper House, where the NDA Government is in a minority at present.

The notice of privilege has been moved by CPM MP K.N. Balagopal in the Rajya Sabha of which he is a member.

File Picture: TV grab of K.N. Balagopal speaking in the Rajya Sabha

“This increase was done arbitrarily at a time when the notice for statutory motion to disallow the earlier notification to increase excise duty of the petrol and diesel, is pending before the Rajya Sabha,” K.N Balagopal said in the notice sent to Rajya Sabha chairman Hamid Ansari, a day after the government raised excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs. 2 per litre.

Balagopal alleged that both Jaitley and Pradhan took the decision “bypassing” the Parliament. He said the notice for amending the earlier notification was given by him and his party leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sitaram Yechury and it was accepted by the Chairman and is included in the list of business.

“The Business advisory committee has allotted time for the discussion. But due to the negative attitude of the government, the statutory motion was not discussed in the last session. Now it is pending before the House. Since such an important motion is pending before the house for discussion and finalisation, it is the responsibility of the government to respect the Parliamentary practices and procedures,” the notice said.

“They (Jaitley and Pradhan) negated the Parliamentary privileges and etiquettes. Hence I feel this as a grave case of breach of parliamentary privilege, which affected me the personally and the Rajya Sabha, in general,” Balagopal said, seeking necessary action to protect the privilege of members.

The third excise duty hike since November was done to help raise an additional amount of Rs. 6,000 crore during the remaining three months of the current fiscal as the government took advantage of a slump in global oil prices to five-year low to shore up revenue without stoking inflation. Balagopal said when the international price of crude has been decreased from $115 per barrel to $55 per barrel, the government is increasing the “real price” of petroleum products.

“If the government passes over the international price of petroleum to Indian consumers, it would be less than Rs. 40 per litre of petrol and diesel,” he said.

If admitted by the Rajya Sabha Chairman Mr. Hamid Ansari , the notice will go to the Privileges Committee of the Rajya Sabha, headed by Deputy Chairman PJ Kurien. The ruling NDA has just two members in the 10-member Privileges Committee, which will take a decision on the notice and report its decision to the Upper House.

Centre not in favour of reducing age of juveniles from 18 to 16 years, says Women & Child Development Minister, Maneka Gandhi

The Union Government on Thursday made it clear that it is not in favour of reducing the age of juveniles from 18 to 16 years but is proposing changes in processes related to treatment of heinous offences committed by those in the age group of 16 to 18 years

In a written reply in Rajya Sabha, Women and Child Development (WCD) Minister Maneka Gandhi said that there have been demands from many quarters to review the system and framework of juvenile justice. 

"In such cases, the Juvenile Justice Board may transfer the proceedings to a children's court, which is a Court of Sessions," the Minister said. She said that in coming to a decision, the court would be assisted by able psychologists, psycho social workers and experts.

"The children's court will conduct an assessment of the physical and mental status capacity of the child to commit such offence and the circumstances in which the offence was committed," Maneka Gandhi said.

During the process of inquiry, trial and after trial, the child will be kept in a place of safety and not in a jail, she said. She also added that under no circumstances would the sentence passed by a Court be life imprisonment or death.

Modi Government to kickstart labour reforms; 2 key Bills likely to be introduced in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday

The winter session of Parliament that commenced on November 24 and is expected to continue until December 23 has 22 working days and a packed legislative business to transact.

Some 37 bills are up for introduction and passage ranging from labour reforms to the passage of the long-delayed goods and services tax and insurance reforms. 

Among these bills to be introduced in the winter session of Parliament , the Labour Laws (Exemption from Furnishing Returns and maintaining Registers by Certain Establishments) Amendment Bill and the Apprentices (Amendment) Bill were scheduled to be introduced in the Rajya Sabha on Monday, but likely to be taken up for consideration only on Tuesday as both Houses of Parliament adjourned for the day after obituary references. 

The Labour Laws (Exemption from Furnishing Returns and maintaining Registers by Certain Establishments) Amendment Bill seeks to amend the principal Act, namely the Labour Laws (Exemption from Furnishing Returns and maintaining Registers by Certain Establishments) Amendment and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1988 by widening the ambit of the principal Act to more establishments and adding more laws from the purview of which the establishments are exempted. The Bill amends the definition of 'small establishment' to cover establishment that employ between 10 and 40 employees. While the principal Act provided for the employer having to file returns and maintain registers at the workplace in a specified format, the amendment sought to be made now provides that the employer may maintain the returns filed and registers maintained on a computer, computer disk or other electronic media, print-outs of which will have to be made available to the Inspector on demand or sent to the inspector by electronic mail. Further, in what is seen as a watering down of the stringent provisions of the Act, the Bill amends the list of Acts which exempt the small establishments thereunder from maintaining registers and filing returns and adds seven more to the list. The salient features of the Labour Laws (Exemption from Furnishing Returns and maintaining Registers by Certain Establishments) Amendment Bill can be read here

The Apprentices (Amendment) Bill, 2014 sets the minimum age of apprenticeship in designated trades related to hazardous industries as 18 years. Among the more controversial provisions of  the Bill, is the proposed amendment that leaves the hours of work and leave for apprentices at the discretion or policy of the employer.The highlights of the Apprentices (Amendment) Bill, 2014 which seeks to amend the Apprentices Act, 1961 can be read here .