The Joint Parliamentary Committee on Thursday held a stormy meeting on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill at which Opposition members demanded the extension of the duration of the high-powered panel.
Briefing reporters after the meeting, JPC chairman Jagdambika Pal admitted that the Opposition wanted the extension of the deadline for submitting the report to Parliament. ”It is the prerogative of Parliament and the Speaker…our (draft) report is ready,” he said.
Mr Pal said the JPC had called the Ministry of Minority Affairs today for discussions on the bill. The meeting lasted six hours and the ministry representatives gave a detailed explanation on proposed amendments. Prior to this, the JPC had held meetings with the ministry on four occasions. In all, the bill was discussed by the JPC with the ministry representatives for 29 hours.
He said the JPC held as many as 25 sittings, holding discussions with various stakeholders like former judges, Islamic scholars, vice-chancellors and minority institutions. It toured various states like Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana, Odisha and Assam for detailed discussions on the legislation.
”I think all members got an opportunity to ask questions…we will now hold clause by clause discussions and try to build a consensus,” he said.
When pointed out that the Opposition members propose to meet the Speaker to demand extension of the tenure of the panel, Mr Pal, who is from the BJP, said they can always meet the Speaker as they are representatives of the House.
He said the JPC would give the draft report to all members to enable them to go through the proposed amendments clause by clause and give their opinions in four days. He was hopeful that the JPC will present a ”good report” to the House without any note of dissent.