Eight new bills, and possibly a resolution to extend President's Rule in Manipur, are on the agenda for the monsoon session of Parliament that will begin July 21, sources told NDTV Tuesday.
There will be a total of 21 sittings till August 21, with a break from August 12 to 18, in a Parliament session that is likely to, once again, deliver stormy confrontations between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and the opposition, including the Congress-led INDIA bloc.
Among the likely flashpoints will be the Election Commission's 'special intensive revision' ahead of the Bihar Assembly election later this year. The opposition - i.e., the Congress and the Rashtriya Janata Dal - have been protesting the decision to revise the voter list months before the election. The poll panel has said the exercise will ensure a free, fair, and transparent poll.
The matter is being heard by the Supreme Court. Last week it said the EC had the constitutional mandate to conduct this exercise, but expressed "serious doubts" over the timing.
There will likely also be a face-off over the controversy surrounding former Delhi High Court judge Justice Yashwant Varma, who is likely to be impeached this session after bundles of cash were recovered while firefighters put out a blaze at his allotted bungalow in Delhi in March. The judge had denied any wrongdoing on his part, and attributed the seized cash to a 'conspiracy'.
Parliament is also expected to hold a discussion on the Pahalgam terror attack and the subsequent military operation by India - Operation Sindoor.
In addition the government will also look to pass the new Income Tax Bill; this had been tabled in the last session and then referred to a joint parliamentary committee for further scrutiny.
The new bill, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told Parliament in February, will cut through the jargon in the 1961 Income Tax Act and make it easier to understand for the common person.
If it passed in this session, the law comes into effect from April 1, 2026.
Among the proposed changes and amendments is the concept of a 'tax year', which will replace the simultaneous use of 'financial year', or FY, and 'accounting year', or AY. In other words, under current income tax laws, tax for income earned in 2023/24, for example, is paid in 2024/25.
The proposed change will see the introduction of a 'tax year', so tax on income earned in a year will be paid that year. It has also omitted redundant sections, like those about 'fringe benefit tax'.
Overall, it tries to replace the 1961 Act, which critics had become voluminous due to amendments made over the past 60 years. Speaking this afternoon, Ms Sitharaman said, "The Income Tax Act was originally enacted in 1961 and came into effect in 1962."
Meanwhile, among other bills to be tabled are the National Sports Governance Bill and the National Anti-Doping Amendment Bill, as well as the Mines and Minerals Amendment Bill.
The latter has four major objectives. These are: provision for practical recovery of critical minerals, provision for inclusion of contiguous areas for scientific and better mining of deep-lying minerals, proposal to broaden the scope of the National Mineral Exploration Trust, and provision for ensuring use of legacy deposits of minerals that cannot be put to captive use.
Also, the Land Heritage Sites and Land Remains (Conservation and Maintenance) Bill aims to provide for the declaration, conservation, protection, and maintenance of geo-heritage sites and land-remains of national importance. The purpose of the proposed bill is to promote geological studies, education, research, public-awareness and tourism.
The National Sports Governance Bill aims to ensure the development and promotion of sports, welfare measures for sportspersons, and ethical conduct in sports through good governance.
A related bill proposes to amend the National Anti-Doping Act of 2022. Once passed it will bring provisions of the current law on par with international best practices and the World Anti-Doping Agency, or WADA, code.
The other four new bills are:
- Manipur Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Bill
- Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill
- Indian Institute of Management (Amendment) Bill
- Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill
In addition, eight other bills - including the Indian Ports Bill - are pending and the government will try to pass these proposed legislations, sources said.
