Government bulldozing bills in Lok Sabha: Congress

The Congress on Tuesday accused the Narendra Modi government of "bulldozing bills" in the Lok Sabha on the strength of their numbers, and called the situation an "undeclared emergency".

Briefing media persons outside Parliament House shortly after the Lok Sabha approved the Taxation Laws (Second Amendment) Bill, 2016, Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge said the bill was passed in a jiffy without any debate.

According to the Taxation Laws (Second Amendment) Bill, 2016, any person declaring black money will have to pay a tax of 60 per cent and an additional surcharge of 25 per cent of the tax (i.e. 15 per cent of such income), resulting in a total tax amounting to approximately 75 per cent.

"They (government) are not ready to follow a democratic method of passing bills. Since they have majority in the House ... they want to bulldoze every bill," Kharge said.

"In 10 minutes they passed such an important bill. This is undeclared emergency and they are headed towards dictatorship," he added.

The Congress leader asserted that Parliament is supreme and the members have a right to discuss any bill before it is passed.

In the Lok Sabha, opposition members had insisted that the House should first take up a debate on demonetisation under an adjournment motion, and then take up the bill.

Trinamool Congress member Sudip Bandyopadhyay also suggested that the debate and the bill can be clubbed, which Speaker Sumitra Mahajan said was not possible.

As opposition members protested, the Speaker put the bill to vote amidst the din, and it was passed by voice vote.

--IANS

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