Par Panel

Amid concerns raised by the opposition parties, a parliamentary panel has recommended that the prime minister, Union ministers and chief ministers be suspended and not permanently removed from their posts, if they are detained for 30 straight days on charges of serious offences. It also proposed an automatic reversal clause if such persons are acquitted or the prosecution does not proceed within a specified period. The joint committee of Parliament examining the 130th Constitution Amendment Bill made two specific and three general recommendations. Introduced last August, the BIll seeks to automatically remove the prime minister, ministers or chief ministers on the 31st day of their detention if they don't step down on their own. The opposition had dubbed the Bill a tool to destabilise governments run by them. Most opposition parties had opted out of the joint committee examining the Bill. In its report likely to be adopted this week, the panel has proposed that the term "removal"

A parliamentary panel, mandated to examine accounts of central public sector undertakings, will scrutinise the performance of insurance sector PSUs and solar power corporations. The Committee on Public Undertakings (CoPU) will also examine the performance of the National Scheduled Castes Finance and Development Corporation (NSFDC). The panel headed by BJP's Baijayant Panda will also evaluate the performance of Sagarmala Development Company Limited (SDCL). With the government's push for renewable energy as the engine of growth, the parliamentary committee will hold a comprehensive performance of Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited (SECI), according to the list of subjects selected by it. The committee selects from time to time for examination such PSUs or subjects as it deems fit. The ministry or the undertaking concerned is asked to furnish necessary material relating to those subjects for information of the members.

Some members of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs which is set to discuss the three key criminal law bills have protested against being asked at "short notice" to participate in meetings to discuss the proposed legislations. At least three members - TMC's Derek O'Brien and Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, and Congress leader Digvijay Singh - have written to the committee chairman Brijlal questioning the scheduling of the meetings on August 24, 25 and 26 and demanding that the dates be revised, sources said. The committee is scheduled to discuss the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Bill, 2023, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita Bill, 2023 and Bharatiya Sakhshya Bill, 2023 that seek to overhaul the Indian criminal justice system by replacing the Indian Penal Code 1860, the Code of Criminal Procedure 1898, and the Indian Evidence Act, 1872. The committee, according to the original schedule, was to meet on August 24 to adopt a draft report on 'Prison-Condition Infrastructure and Reforms

Scheme was launched in 2007 by telecom department

Present system was adopted by the Government of India in 1867