New Delhi: The government on Tuesday faced embarrassment in the Rajya Sabha as Opposition forced deferment of a bill which provides for setting up of commercial divisions in High Courts.
The opposition also disallowed HRD Minister Kapil Sibal to
move a bill to amend Copyright Act, stating that it amounted
to "conflict of interests".
Even before Sibal could stand up to move the bill,
Shivanand Tiwari (JD-U) objected to it stating that the
minister's son represents music firm Super Cassette industries
as a lawyer in courts.
The proposed changes in the legislation would protect
owners of music rights.
"According to Rule 294 of Parliament's Ethics Committee, a
member having direct or indirect interest in a matter cannot
move a bill... He has conflict of interest," Tiwari said.
He was supported by BJP members including S S Ahluwalia
and Prakash Javadekar besides members from other parties
including AIADMK, BSP and TDP.
As the protesting members did not relent, the Bill could
not be taken up in the House.
The government had to defer another bill which provides
for setting up of commercial divisions in High Courts.
Conceding there are deficiencies in the Commercial
Division of High Courts Bill, 2010, Law Minister Salman
Khurshid said, "There are certain aspects that require further
consideration...We will be able to bring some new amendments.
I seek only little more time now."
He said if the members feel that further consultations
should be done, "we have no problem".
Leader of Opposition Arun Jaitley said the proposed
legislation was "completely misconceived and badly drafted".
PTI
First Published: Tuesday, December 13, 2011, 20:19