17 Opposition parties write to Rajya Sabha Chairman over 'hurried' passage of Bills

Seventeen Opposition parties wrote to the Rajya Sabha Chairman on Friday raising concerns over the "hurried" passage of bills in Parliament without any scrutiny, and said that this was a departure from established practice. The letter has been signed by leaders of 17 parties, including the Congress, Samajwadi Party, Trinamool Congress, Bahujan Samaj Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal, Telugu Desam Party, Communist party of India and the CPI(M).

"We, the undersigned parties, wish to register our anguish and serious concern over the manner in which the Government is hurriedly passing legislations without any scrutiny by Parliamentary Standing or Select Committees.  This is a fundamental departure from the established practice and healthy traditions of enacting legislations," the letter said. It said that in the 14th Lok Sabha, 60 per cent of bills were sent for scrutiny to parliamentary committees while in the 15th Lok Sabha, 71 per cent of bills were sent for scrutiny.

However, the letter said, in the 16th Lok Sabha, only 26 per cent of bills were sent for scrutiny. "Now, in the 17th Lok Sabha, 14 bills have already been passed in the first  session. None of these bills has been referred to a Standing Committee or Select Committee for legislative scrutiny.

"Public consultation is a long established practice where parliamentary committees scrutinise bills, deliberate, engage and work towards improving the content and quality of the legislation," the letter stated. The parties also asked Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu to intervene in the matter.