Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman introduced a Bill in the Lok Sabha on Thursday to amend the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code amid protests from the Opposition that that the Bill was circulated to them very late and demanding that the bill to be referred to a standing committee for scrutiny.
The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), which came into force in 2016, has already been amended thrice. The latest changes pertain to various sections as well as introduction of a new section.
Sitharaman said the amendment has been necessitated because there was lot of doubt in the mind of small home buyers and others.
“Some amendments were required in addition to what we did in July. Therefore, we have come back,” she said.
Acknowledging that a two-day mandatory notice had not been given in this case, Sitharaman said: “It is in response to development which we see in the economy.... Please do helps us to respond to the economy as all of us are equally concerned.”
Opposing the introduction of the bill without following the mandatory two-day notice, Congress leader Adhir Chowdhury said one after another amendment was brought in the IBC and it implied “inconsistency” of the government in managing the economy.
He also pointed to the rule that no Bill could be introduced until copies were made available two days in advance.
The Bill was circulated among the members in the morning, Chowdhury said, adding, the objection was that the ministry had been taking the entire Parliament for a ride. He requested the Speaker to send the Bill to a parliamentary standing committee, which was supported by Saugata Roy of the TMC. Roy said the bill was circulated only a day before and thus should not be introduced now.
Amidst verbal exchanges, the Speaker intervened and said he had allowed the minister to introduce the Bill due to paucity of time.
The IBC (Second Amendment) Bill, 2019 was approved by the Union Cabinet on Wednesday. The first amendment was passed by Parliament in July. The amendments seek to remove bottlenecks and streamline the corporate insolvency resolution process.