New Parliament House is on display during the Rootz Gems & Jewellery Manufaturers show 2022, in Surat, December 17, 2022. (PTI)
Linking the huge pendency of cases in courts to vacant posts of judges, Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju, referring to the Supreme Court’s Collegium system of appointments to the higher judiciary, told Rajya Sabha Thursday that this issue will not be resolved until a “new system” on appointments is evolved.
He also said “there is a feeling among people of India that the long vacation which the courts obtain is not very convenient for justice-seekers” and it is his “obligation and duty to convey the message or sense of this House to the judiciary”.
Rijiju’s remarks in the House came days after he criticised the Collegium system as being “opaque” and the Vice-President called the Supreme Court’s 2015 judgement striking down the National Judicial Appointments Commission Act a “severe compromise” of parliamentary sovereignty and disregard of the “mandate of the people”.
Lok Sabha MP Ravneet Singh Bittu. (Screenshot)
Two issues related to Punjab were raised in Parliament on Friday. Lok Sabha MP Ravneet Singh Bittu raised the issue of Latifpura demolition drive in Jalandhar and Rajya Sabha MP Vikramjit Singh Sahney protested over no representation being given to Punjab in the Minimum Support Price (MSP) committee and Commission for Agriculture Cost and Prices (CACP).
Bittu said that in Latifpura locality of Jalandhar, several houses were razed to the ground under the Aam Aadmi Party government. He appealed to Union Minister of Housing and Urban Development Hardeep Singh Puri to intervene in this matter and provide shelter to those rendered homeless. “Our Punjabis settled abroad are offering help but why can’t we do it? Are we dead?” asked Bittu.
Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda (PTI)
The Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Third Amendment) Bill, 2022, aimed at inclusion of the Hattee community of Trans Giri area in Himachal Pradesh’s Sirmaur district in the Scheduled Tribes list, was passed by Lok Sabha on Friday.
Replying to the debate on the Bill, Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda said the Bill seeks to provide justice and facilities to those who have been deprived for years. The Bill, introduced in Lok Sabha on December 9, was soon passed by a voice vote.
The government’s move to introduce the Bill came after the Himachal Pradesh government requested the Centre to include the Hattee community in the ST list.
Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani and Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury indulged in a spat in Lok Sabha on Friday over the use of the word ‘gentleman’. While responding to a supplementary question by Chandra Sekhar Sahu of the BJD on fortified food for children, Irani referred to him as “gentleman” which was objected to by Chowdhury who said that as per parliamentary procedures she should have referred to him as “honourable member”.
The Congress on Sunday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of “running away” from a debate in Parliament on the situation along the border with China and said he and not the defence minister must answer on this issue. The opposition party also posed questions to the government on the Sino-India border issue, saying the nation demands and deserves answers to them. In a statement, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh asked after two years of a protracted “disengagement”, what emboldened the Chinese to try taking over the Indian post in the Yangtse area of Tawang.
