GST not to be listed for discussion before next week

The goods and services tax (GST) Constitution amendment Bill is likely to be listed for discussion in the Rajya Sabha not before December 14, which would leave the government with eight days of the winter session to get the key tax reform passed by the Upper House and subsequently the amended Bill by the Lok Sabha before the session ends on December 23.

Central ministers said they haven't lost hope about the GST Bill being passed in the ongoing session, despite no clear indications emerging from the Congress leadership, particularly from Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Vice-President Rahul Gandhi.

The Congress has conveyed to the government that while it had agreed that the Rajya Sabha's Business Advisory Committee allocate four hours for a discussion on the Bill, the Bill should only be listed in the day's business after the Upper House discusses other issues of urgent public importance, especially the drought situation in large parts of the country and the price rise. The government has postponed the discussion on the Real Estate Bill also for the next week.

Though the Congress staged a protest against Union minister VK Singh for his alleged "anti-Dalit" remarks, it took place outside the Rajya Sabha. Rahul Gandhi led the protest. Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge raised the issue in the Lower House. He complained that some of his statements on the issue have been deleted from the records of House proceedings.

Both the Houses functioned without any disruptions. The Rajya Sabha passed the Negotiable Instruments Bill, 2015 without any debate. The Bill provides for filing of cheque bounce cases at the place where a cheque is presented for clearance and not the place of issue. The Lok Sabha had passed the Bill in the monsoon session. The amendments to the Bill will affect the over 1.8 million cheque bounce cases pending in various courts, minister of state for finance Jayant Sinha said.

The Rajya Sabha also decided to send the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill, 2013, to a House Select Committee for consideration. This was after members objected to certain clauses of the Bill. They said these overlapped with the provisions of the Lokpal Act.

In the Lok Sabha, the government introduced four new Bills on Monday. These were: the Industries (Development and Regulation) amendment Bill, 2015; a Bill to provide for setting up of commercial courts and commercial appellate divisions in the high courts for adjudicating commercial disputes; the Payment of Bonus (Amendment) Bill, 2015 and the Atomic Energy (Amendment) Bill, 2015. The atomic energy Bill aims to amend the Atomic Energy Act to enable Nuclear Power Corporation of India to enter into joint ventures with other PSUs. The Lok Sabha also discussed the drought situation in the country.

In the Zero Hour in the Rajya Sabha, Congress MPs criticised the Delhi government's plan to introduce a plan to allow for plying of odd and even numbered plate vehicles on alternative days of the week.