New Delhi: Slogans and protests returned to Parliament on Monday as the Congress raised the allegations against Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley of corruption in the Delhi cricket body calling for his resignation. As ruckus swelled in the Rajya Sabha, the House was adjourned till 2 pm.
However, the Finance Minister categorically rejected the Opposition charge and said all allegations against him were baseless.
Meanwhile, the Juvenile Justice Bill is in focus right now with the controversial release from a remand home on Sunday of the youngest attacker of Jyoti Singh, a 23-year-old medical student who was gang-raped and tortured by six men on a moving bus in Delhi in 2012.
There is widespread demand that the bill, approved by the Lok Sabha earlier this year, be passed by Wednesday. The opposition Congress has decided to support it.
Parliament is trying to squeeze in legislative work in the last three days of the winter session, after the government and the opposition clinched a truce at an all-party meeting on Friday. The session has so far been a wash out with the opposition disrupting the Houses, particularly the Rajya Sabha, continuously.
At the meeting called by vice-president Hamid Anasri, who is also the chairman of the Rajya Sabha or Upper House, sources said, the government and the opposition agreed to pass a number of bills including the Prevention of Atrocities Against SC and ST bill, which is expected to be taken up first, and the appropriation bills.
But the government's flagship reform measure, the Goods and Services Tax or GST Bill is not among them. Sources said it was not discussed at Friday's meeting.
The GST Bill, already passed by the Lok Sabha, must be passed by the Rajya Sabha by December 23, the last day of this session and then be sent to the states for passage, for a new tax regime to be put in place by April 1, 2016.
The chances of it being brought in this session now seem very bleak.
About 18 other bills are pending in the upper House, among them the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Bill, which provides for trying juveniles aged between 16 and 18 years under laws for adults for heinous crimes.
The Opposition is also insisting on a review of the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Bill, the Whistleblowers Protection (Amendment) Bill by a select committee.
The anti-hijack bill, the atomic energy (amendment) bill and the whistleblowers bill have been listed for Tuesday. The commercial courts ordinance bill and the arbitration and conciliation (amendment) bill are also pending.
With IANS inputs
