Opposition seeks extension of JPC on Waqf Bill in meeting with Speaker
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New Delhi: In their meeting with Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Monday, the opposition members of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) that is examining the Waqf Amendment Bill requested a reasonable extension of the panel's tenure.
The Opposition also filed a protest against Jagdambika Pal, a BJP MP and panel chairman, in a memo to the Speaker, alleging that he bulldozed the proceedings on the important issue.
“We submitted to the Speaker that the due processes are not followed by the chairman. He is hurrying up, bulldozing the proceedings,” DMK member A Raja told reporters after meeting the Speaker, TNIE reported.
“It must be noted that the Waqf Amendment Bill is an expansive legislation that involves several major changes to the existing law. These changes will affect a large section of India’s population. Therefore, a mere three months’ time to finalise the report is not only inadequate but may also result in improper recommendations. For proper consultation and deliberation, the committee’s tenure must be extended by a reasonable time,” read the letter.
AIMIM member Asaduddin Owaisi, Congress members Syed Naseer Hussain, Mohammed Jawed, and Imran Masood, Trinamool members Kalyan Banerjee and M Nadimul Haque, AAP member Sanjay Singh, SP member Mohibbullah, and DMK leaders Raja and M Abdulla are among the lawmakers who met the Speaker.
Raja claimed that the chairman had declared suo-motu that the report must be submitted in Parliament on November 29 and was not adhering to the JPC's due process.
“There are so many procedures, including dissent notes, and vote on each and every clause of the proposed Bill. All these things have to happen,” he said.
They said that the parliamentary panel had held 25 sittings and heard evidence from "various irrelevant organisations," while presentations from state governments like as Bihar, Delhi, and Uttar Pradesh were pending.
The Waqf Amendment Bill is on the government's legislative agenda for the Winter Session of Parliament, awaiting a parliamentary panel report.
The Bill proposes to amend the Waqf Act of 1995 to provide greater accountability and transparency in the operation of Waqf Boards, as well as provisions for the mandatory inclusion of women in these organisations.