New Delhi: Maintaining that it cannot pass
any direction to Parliament on a pending bill, the Supreme
Court today refused to entertain a PIL challenging the
reported move to withdraw certain benefits, like commission,
to 30 lakh LIC agents in the country.
"You are challenging a Bill? How can you challenge a Bill?
You cannot file this type of petition. We will ask you to pay
cost. How can we say Parliament should not pass the Bill," a
bench headed by the Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan, Justices B
S Chauhan and K S Radhakrishna, fumed at the counsel.
The apex court said it was "rubbish" that a responsible
organisation had chosen to file the PIL and threatened to
impose cost, upon which the counsel Chava Badrinath Babu
withdrew the petition.
The PIL filed by Rajhamundry Division Council of LIC
agents Association had urged the apex court to quash two
bills -- Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2008 and the Life
Insurance Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2009.
According to the petitioner, the first bill has proposed
to withdraw the commission benefits enjoyed by 30 lakh-odd
insurance agents and instead put the onus on the agents to
collect fees from the policy holders.
PTI
