The story so far: The Monsoon Session of the Parliament is set to commence on Monday, July 18 and will continue till August 12. Both Houses of Parliament will be in session after a gap of more than two months, after the second leg of the Budget Session from March to April. Since then, multiple members of the Upper House have resigned after completing their terms and 57 new ones have been elected to the Parliament. The government called an all-party meeting on Sunday ahead of the session where Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and Rajya Sabha Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu will also be meeting the floor leaders of the respective Houses.
As lawmakers gear up for the upcoming session, here’s a look at what Bills were introduced and discussed in the previous session of the Parliament:
The Criminal Procedure (Identification) Bill, 2022
The Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha by the Home Ministry on March 28 and was subsequently passed in both the Houses. It received the President’s assent and became an Act on April 18.
- The Act replaced the Identification of Prisoners Act, 1920.
- The new Act allows the police and prison authorities to collect, store and analyse physical and biological samples including retina and iris scans of convicted, arrested and detained persons.
- It empowers the National Crime Records Bureau of India (NCRB), under the Union Home Ministry, to collect, store and preserve records of measurements for at least 75 years.
- It defines ‘‘measurements’’ to include “signature, handwriting, iris and retina scan, physical, biological samples and their analysis, etc.” It does not specify what analysis means, implying that it may also include storing DNA samples.
- The old Act’s scope was limited to the capturing of finger impressions, footprint impressions and photographs of convicted prisoners and specific categories of arrested and non-convicted persons on the order of a Magistrate.
- The 2022 Act empowers police or prison officers up to the rank of a Head Constable to take details of any person who resists or refuses to provide data.
Discussion on the Bill: Opposition members during the Parliament session had opposed the Bill, terming it “unconstitutional” and an attack on privacy, saying that it would violate the fundamental rights of prisoners. Members had also expressed concerns about the potential of the Bill being misused and that it was being proposed in the “absence of any overreaching data protection law”.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah had defended the Bill saying that it had been introduced so that the police and law-enforcement agencies “are two steps ahead of the criminals and not two steps behind”.
“I can assure you this much that this Bill has not been brought in for any misuse,” Mr. Shah had said, asking “those worrying about the human rights of prisoners to worry about the human rights of those who are harassed by criminals”.
The Hindu resources
Editorial | Identity and privacy: On Prisoners’ identification Bill
Decoding the Criminal Procedure (Identification) Bill, 2022 | In Focus podcast
The Indian Antarctic Bill, 2022
The Bill was introduced by Union Science Minister Jitendra Singh in the Lok Sabha on April 1 and has not been passed by the Parliament yet.
- The Bill aims to lay down a set of rules to regulate a range of activities on territories in Antarctica where India has set up two standing research stations- Bharati and Maitri.
- In 1983, India joined the Antarctic Treaty of 1959, which obliges member countries to specify a set of laws governing portions of the continent where they have research bases.
- If the Bill were to become law, private tours and expeditions to Antarctica would be prohibited without a permit orwritten authorisation from a member country.
- The Bill extends the jurisdiction of Indian courts to Antarctica, applying to Indians or foreign nationals who are part of an Indian expedition to Antarctica or are in the precincts of Indian research stations. It also applies to vessels or aircraft registered in India and prevents them from entering Antarctica without a permit.
- It also prohibits a range of activities in the region such as waste disposal, mining, dredging, nuclear testing, and other activities that threaten the pristine environment of the continent. It prescribes penal provisions in case of violations.
Discussion on the Bill: Opposition parliamentarians had asked how India had the right to make laws with penal provisions in territory that didn’t belong to it or in a no man’s land. The Science Minister responded by saying that under the Treaty, India, being a member country, was obligated to lay down laws in the territory involving India’s research stations and the Bill only had limited application against unlawful activities on the Indian territory in Antarctica.
The Hindu resources
Explained | The Indian Antarctic Bill and its various provisions
The Weapons of Mass Destruction and their Delivery Systems (Prohibition of Unlawful Activities) Amendment Bill, 2022
The Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha on April 5 and passed the next day. It awaits introduction in the Upper House of the Parliament. It was supported by Opposition lawmakers in the Lok Sabha.
- The Bill amends the Weapons of Mass Destruction and their Delivery Systems (Prohibition of Unlawful Activities) Act, 2005 which prohibits the unlawful manufacture, transport, or transfer of weapons of mass destruction (WMD)— including chemical, biological and nuclear weapons— and their means of delivery.
- The Act was passed to meet an international obligation enforced by UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1540 of 2004 to address the growing threat of non-state actors gaining access to WMD material, equipment or technology to undertake acts of terrorism.
- The 2022 Amendment expands the scope of the 2005 Act to include the prohibition of financing of any activity related to WMD and their delivery systems.
- To prevent such financing, the Central government shall have the power to freeze, seize or attach funds, financial assets, or economic resources of suspected individuals (whether owned, held, or controlled directly or indirectly.
The Hindu resources
Explained | Amending the Weapons of Mass Destruction Act
The Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2022
The Bill was introduced in Parliament on March 25 and was passed by both Houses by April 5. It received the President’s assent on April 18 and became an Act. The Bill came at a time when Delhi was gearing up for Municipal Corporation elections, the plans for which were halted due to the Centre’s introduction of the Bill.
- The Act amends the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act of 1957, which was amended by the Delhi Legislative Assembly in 2011 to divide the Municipal Corporation of Delhi into three bodies- North, South, and East.
- The 2022 Act unifies the three Corporations back into one.
- Before the new amendment, the Delhi government had the powers to make multiple decisions vis-a-vis the Municipal Corporations, such as the number of seats for councillors, the delimitation of wards under each corporation, salary and allowances, and leaves of the Municipal Commissioner. Notably, under the 2011 Act, the Commissioner would work under the directions and consultation of the Delhi government to exercise his/her powers of formulating regulations.
- With the current amendment, the above-mentioned powers were awarded to the Central government.
- It also reduces the number of seats in the three corporations taken together to 250 from 272.
Discussion on the Bill: While introducing the Bill in the Rajya Sabha, Home Minister Amit Shah accused the AAP government in Delhi of meting out “step–motherly” treatment to the three civic bodies for political reasons. He said the corporations were divided in such a manner that the two of them could not even financially sustain themselves.
Opposition lawmaker from AAP Sanjay Singh questioned the timing of the introduction of the Bill, asking why the Centre did not amend the Act in the last seven years and instead chose election time to do it. Other members termed it “constitutionally suspect and administratively blunderous” and an “attack on the federal structure” of governance.
The Constitution (Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes) Orders Bills
Three amendments were introduced to the Schedule Tribes (ST) and Scheduled Caste (SC) orders in three states- Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, and Tripura. The SC order (1950) states the castes, races and tribes categorised as Scheduled Castes in States and Union Territories, while the ST order states the Tribes and communities categorised as Scheduled Tribes.
- The Constitution (Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes) Orders (Amendment) Bill, 2022 was passed in both houses by April 5. It amends the ST order to include the Deshwari, Ganjhu, Dautalbandi (Dwalbandi), Patbandi, Raut, Maajhia, Khairi (Kheri), Tamaria (Tamadia), and Puran communities of Jharkhand in its list of Scheduled Tribes. It also re-categorizes the Bhogta community in the State as ST from SC.
- The Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Amendment) Bill, 2022, was passed in both houses by April 6. It amends the ST order to make the Darlong community of Tripura a sub-tribe of the Kuki tribe.
- The Constitution (Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes) Orders (Second Amendment) Bill, 2022, was passed in the Lok Sabha on April 1 but has not been passed in the Upper House yet. The Bill excludes the Gond community from the SC list in four districts of Uttar Pradesh- Sant Kabir Nagar, Sant Ravidas Nagar, Kushinagar, and Chandauli. Further, it adds the community to the ST list in these four districts.
Discussion on the Bill: Opposition lawmakers flagged the issue of delays in including communities in the SC and ST lists and of such requests pending with the Centre for years. They also raised the issue of improving basic conditions for such communities beyond their additions to such lists.
(With inputs from PRS Legislative Research)
