The Rajya Sabha passed the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Bill, 2021 moved by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman by a voice vote.
The Bill was passed in 40 minutes, with five speakers supporting it and two Opposition members, CPI(M)’s John Brittas and CPI’s Binoy Viswam, opposing it. It was supported by Vijay Sai Reddy of the YSR Congress, the BJD’s Amar Patnaik, the TRS’s Banda Prakash, the TDP’s Ravinra Kumar and the AIADMK’s M. Thambidurai
The Bill was cleared by the Lok Sabha last week.
Neither the speeches by the members nor the statement made by Ms. Sitharaman was clearly audible owing to protests from the Opposition parties.
Parliament proceedings updates | August 3, 2021
Ms Sitharaman said, “You may have a disagreement, you may protest. However, to disrupt a member who is speaking and surround him in a threatening fashion is absolutely unacceptable”.
The Left members utilised the opportunity to speak on the bill to raise the Pegasus issue. Mr. Brittas said democracy was being systematically attacked. “This Bill is to destroy the economy of this country. Already this government has destroyed democracy here.” Mr. Viswam said the Bill would lead to loot of the public money which, he alleged, would be utilised to buy the Pegasus spyware.
Two adjournments
Earlier in the day, the House proceedings were adjourned twice because of Opposition protests. The first adjournment came within nine minutes of convening of the House at 11.00 a.m and the second one at 12.40 p.m. Deputy Chairman Harivansh, ignoring the protests, pushed through seven out of the 15 questions listed. Again, the exchange between the members who raised the questions and the Minister’s answers were lost in the din.
Stepping up on the protests, the Opposition parties increased the number of placards, with almost each of the member, whether standing in the well, on their seats or sitting, holding one. The Rajya Sabha TV has been making a conscious effort not to telecast the Opposition protests and to avoid the placards. To ensure that their placards catch the camera, the Opposition members started standing behind the members who are speaking. Slogans were raised in multiple languages- English, Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil and Bangla.