Bhupender Yadav downplays allegations of improper scrutiny of Bills

BJP General Secretary Bhupender Yadav on Sunday downplayed the allegations levelled by opposition leaders in the Rajya Sabha regarding the improper scrutiny of the Bills by the Parliamentary Standing Committee.

However, the BJP accused the Opposition of creating unwarranted obstacles.

"Recently, the opposition leaders in the Rajya Sabha had alleged that the Government has passed Legislation in hurry without scrutiny by Parliamentary Standing Committees, which is fundamentally wrong on facts," said Yadav.

Yadav's remarks came after Derek O'Brien claimed that the Bills were being passed without proper scrutiny. He had alleged that, by far, no bills have been scrutinised by the committee.

"In 14th Lok Sabha (2004-9) 60 per cent of the Bills were scrutinised and studied by the Parliament committees. In 15th Lok Sabha (2009-14) 71 per cent of the Bills were scrutinised. In 16th Lok Sabha (2014-19), the figure was only 26 per cent. Bad start to current 17th Lok Sabha: ZERO per cent of Bills have been scrutinised. As a constructive Opposition, we will save democracy," he had told ANI.

The general secretary contended that it is not a "necessary requirement" to send the Bill to the committee before passing it, adding that it is a "mere practice".

He asserted that the UPA government had only sent five Bills to the Parliamentary Select Committee from 2009 to 2014, while the incumbent government had, during its last tenure, had sent as many as 17 Bills to the committee.

"It is difficult to understand that why there is the objection if the House has performed better, brought more laws, made more required changes and did the function, which is primarily the function of the House," he said.