Govt seeks to extend Parliament session, 'contentious' Triple Talaq Bill on cards

The government is likely to extend the Parliament session for one week with more than dozen bills piling up for discussion. The extension of the parliamentary proceedings was discussed in the Business Advisory Committee meeting in which the opposition stood against the idea of any such move. According to media reports, Speaker Om Birla is likely to announce the extension on Tuesday i.e. today.

The government seeks to have a discussion on the contentious ‘Tripe Talaq Bill’ i.e. ‘The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill 2019’ in the extended period. The current parliament session which began on June 17 is scheduled to conclude on July 26. It is expected that the current session will get extended to August 2. There are other bills like that on Article 35 A, concerning the demography of Jammu and Kashmir. As per reports, the Union Minister are in contact with the opposition leaders for the extension of parliamentary session.

Earlier, PM Modi had also hinted in the BJP parliamentary party meeting that the parliament session may be extended. Also, PM had asked for a list of ministers who skipped their parliament duty despite being on the roster.

Moreover, the ongoing session of the 17th Lok Sabha has been the most productive in the last 20 years, with the Lower House registering 128 per cent productivity. In this session, ‘National Investigative Agency (Amendment) Bill, 2019’ was passed in lower house. The House passed the bill by a voice vote with 278 members supporting its consideration and only six opposing. 

Along with NIA (Amendment Bill), the Aadhaar and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill were also passed from the Rajya Sabha. The Lok Sabha had on July 4 passed the Bill, with a voice vote, which seeks to amend 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.