PARLIAMENTARY REPORT
INDIA
OPPOSITION ASKS FOR PLEDGE TO BRING BACK BLACK MONEY TO BE HONOURED
The Winter Session of Lok Sabha continued from 24 November 2014 to 23 December 2014. The first sitting held on 24 November was adjourned after paying tributes to the memory of two sitting and six former MPs. Soon after the Lok Sabha met on 25 November 2014, the leader of the Congress Party in Lok Sabha, Shri Mallikarjun Kharge (INC) and some other members demanded suspension of the Question Hour to discuss the alleged violation of a promise given by the Prime Minister to bring back ‘black money’ from foreign banks within hundred days and distribute the money to the citizens of India. The Speaker, Lok Sabha, Smt. Sumitra Mahajan rejected the demand to suspend the Question Hour and asked the members to give proper notice for discussing the matter. Several members came to the Well of the House and started shouting slogans. Some Members were holding umbrellas with slogans written on them. The Speaker strongly objected to this conduct. Rules provide that while the House is sitting a Member shall not display emblems, placards or any exhibits in the House as it is unbecoming. As the Members continued to disrupt the proceedings, the Speaker adjourned the House for some time. Soon after the House reassembled, some opposition Members again asked for suspension of the
Question Hour to discuss the matter. The Congress party had given a notice for moving an adjournment motion to discuss the matter. The Speaker again expressed her willingness to allow a discussion on the issue under rule 193. The Minister of Urban Development, Minister of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation and Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu said the government was ready to discuss it under whatever rule the Speaker might allow. He urged upon the opposition parties to cooperate in running the House properly and to have a proper debate on the issue. After lunch break, Shri Kharge pointed out that even when the House was not in order it was allowed to do certain business. The Congress party wanted to highlight the issue because the BJP had said they would bring back black money within 100 days and they should apologize for their failure to do so.
The next day, on 26 November, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu, responding to the issue raised by several MPs, said the government was ready for discussion but it was up to the Speaker to decide the timing. The Speaker did not admit the adjournment motion on the ground that it was not a matter of urgent importance but said discussion under rule 193 would be held as it had been listed in the day’s order paper. Later, the Speaker made an observation regarding maintenance of decorum in the House. She observed: “In a democracy, everyone had a right to put forth one’s view point. From the onset of the session, I have been repeatedly saying that we should not exhibit placards, shout slogans and resort to hooting in the House. I once again request you to not compel me to resort to strict measures. We are prudent enough and we represent the people. We set a role model for others. So, I urge upon you to follow rules and observe norms to facilitate smooth conduct of business in this House.”
Lok Sabha Speaker Smt. Sumitra Mahajan
54| The Parliamentarian | 2015: Issue One
In the afternoon, the Lok Sabha took up the issue for discussion under rule 193 which does not entail voting. Initiating the discussion, Shri Kharge said a feeling had been created that despite adequate laws the previous UPA government did not invoke those laws to bring back the black money stashed abroad. Every leader
and every political party gave an astronomical figure. As a result, people felt that if so much money was there in foreign banks why then the government did not bring it back? People thought there was something fishy in it. The BJP election manifesto mentioned that they would bring back the black money, frame very stringent laws and use the money in the interest of the country. He wanted the government to tell the House what it had done to bring back the money as more than 100 days had already lapsed. He blamed the BJP for creating confusion in the minds of the youth and the people of the country. He wanted the government to put before the House the facts relating to the list of account holders submitted to the Supreme Court. Shri Bhartruhari Mahtab (BJD) said money that flowed out was getting rerouted and being invested in different forms in different fronts in the country itself. The efforts of the government to bring back black money seemed futile as these efforts did not bring back a single rupee or dollar stashed in foreign countries. The government’s stand before the Supreme Court that the disclosure of the names would sabotage the investigation and benefit the guilty created a doubt about its integrity, sincerity and seriousness. The present government’s swift action in constituting
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