Parliament winter session: Lok Sabha passes 3 Bills, including Aadhaar

The Lok Sabha on Friday passed three Bills, including The Aadhaar and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2018, to provide legal backing to voluntary seeding of biometric Aadhaar ID with mobile numbers and bank accounts after the Supreme Court barred mandatory use of the 12-digit unique identifier by private firms.

The other two Bills included The Companies (Amendments) Bill, 2018 and The New Delhi International Arbitration Centre Bill, 2018.

The Companies (Amendments) Bill, 2018 was introduced by Minister of State for Law and Justice P.P. Chaudhary while the other two Bills were introduced by Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.

The Aadhaar and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2018 was earlier introduced by Prasad on Wednesday.

The Bill amends the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016, the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885, and the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002.

The Aadhaar Act provides targeted delivery of subsidies and benefits to individuals residing in India by assigning them unique identity numbers, called Aadhaar numbers.

Soon after the Aadhaar Bill was moved for consideration, Biju Janata Dal's Tathagata Satpathy opposed the Bill and walked out of the House after speaking against it for over 15 minutes.

The Companies (Amendment) Bill, 2018, which was introduced in the Lok Sabha by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on December 20, replaces an ordinance promulgated on November 2, 2018.

The Bill amends several provisions in the Companies Act, 2013 relating to penalties, among others.

While introducing The New Delhi International Arbitration Centre Bill, 2018, Prasad said it will establish an autonomous and independent institution for better management of arbitration in India.

"The Bill seeks to provide for the establishment of the NDIAC to conduct arbitration, mediation, and conciliation proceedings. The Bill declares the NDIAC as an institution of national importance," the Minister said.