Govt using Covid as a pretext to bring ordinances: Adhir in Lok Sabha debate

Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury.

The Congress on Monday called the government “ordinance-savvy” and accused it of using the Covid-19 pandemic as a pretext to bring in ordinances “one after the other”.

Speaking in Lok Sabha during a discussion on the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (second amendment) Bill 2020, Congress leader in the House Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said the Constitutional measure of bringing ordinances should be resorted to as an exception and not a rule.

Criticising the Bill, which replaces an ordinance, he said it is “weakly constructed with minimum logic and a lot of grey area”.

“It is nothing but is aimed to patronise their (government) preferred corporates,” he alleged, adding that the MSME sector will be its worst casualty. The Bill did not safeguard any stakeholder, and the government is trying to save corporate debtors, he alleged.

There has been a “poor and dismal performance under you”m he said, referring to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

The Bill, already passed by Rajya Sabha, proposes that fresh insolvency proceedings will not be initiated for at least six months starting from March 25 amid the pandemic.

Countering his criticism, Nishikant Dubey of the BJP said that because of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, recovery rate has been between 42.5 to 45 per cent.

“All the non-performing assets of Rs 14 lakh crore on banks that the Modi government inherited happened during the UPA government’s time,” he said.

Supriya Sule of the NCP spoke about the woes of Jet Airways and asked why it is being treated differently from a government-run airline like Air India.

YSR Congress welcomed the legislation.

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