19 Bills, Including New Income Tax Act, Passed Without Protesting Opposition

Nineteen bills - including one to amend the Constitution to sack ministers facing criminal charges - were passed sans discussion or debate with the opposition, government sources told NDTV Thursday.

The bills were passed amid chaos prompted by vociferous protests over the Bihar voter list controversy and allegations - led by the Congress' Rahul Gandhi - the ruling BJP had conspired with the Election Commission to commit voter fraud in Karnataka and Maharashtra last year.

Parliament also cleared the Online Gaming Bill, which recognises e-sports and social games, while banning gambling platforms and money-based games, many of which are promoted by celebrities.

Two bills relating to Manipur - the GST (Amendment) Bill and the Appropriation (No 2) Bill - and another relating to the functioning of government-run Indian Institute of Managements were also cleared without, or with minimum, opposition contribution, sources told NDTV.

The opposition also boycotted, for the most part, a special parliamentary discussion on astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla, the first Indian to fly to the International Space Station.

Another discussion on Operation Sindoor saw extensive debates in both Houses.

Overall, 12 bills were passed by the Lok Sabha and 14 by the Rajya Sabha in this session, which began July 21 with protests over Operation Sindoor, India's military response to the Pahalgam attack.

The monsoon session had 21 sittings over 32 days, over which the Lok Sabha functioned for only 37 of the scheduled 120 hours and the Rajya Sabha managed less than 42 hours. This prompted Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to chide opposition MPs. "The people expect serious debate, not placards and slogans. Continuous disruptions insult the dignity of Parliament," he said in his valedictory remarks.

Opposition protests and walkouts, a frequent occurrence in any Parliament session, have also led to repeated adjournments. In 2012 these disruptions would have cost the public exchequer Rs 2.5 lakh per minute, according to ex-Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Bansal.

Today the cost will certainly be substantially higher.

The government has criticised the opposition on this point; last week Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said she had been left shocked by the opposition failing to interact on proposed changes to the Income Tax Act. "They say 'you don't want a discussion. So, we agreed to have 16 hours in the Lok Sabha and 16 hours in the Rajya Sabha. But they are away today?"

Ms Sitharaman had tabled the Income Tax Act and the Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha and, in both cases, the opposition was absent. In the former case they were protesting the Bihar voter list revision exercise outside Parliament.