The Rajya Sabha on Monday approved a Bill that seeks to bring clarity on the age of retired judges to determine when they will get enhanced pension.
The Bill was passed post lunch session however the morning session continued to be disrupted with Opposition pressing for their demands of revoke of suspension of their 12 members colleagues who are on a dharna protest in front of the Gandhi statue in the Parliament presmises since day one of the beginning of the winter session.
Referring to the suspension of 12 Opposition party MPs, Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge said the government was "adamant" and forcing it to disrupt the House proceedings. Kharge also announced that they will walk out from the House
Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu tried to bring order in the House, but Opposition members kept raising their point. Naidu then adjourned the proceedings till 12 noon and then again till 2 pm amid unrelenting opposition protests over the issue of suspension MPs.
Later in the day the upper house approved the High Court and Supreme Court Judges (Salaries and Conditions of Service) Amendment Bill, 2021 that was passed in Lok Sabha on December 8.
Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh, who was on the chair, called for a debate on the bill. However, Leader of Opposition (LoP) Mallikarjun Kharge urged him to take a decision on 12 suspended Opposition members first. He was supported by some other Opposition members, including the DMKs Tiruchi Siva.
However, Singh said the chairman of the House has already requested all political parties to amicably solve the issue and called Amee Yajnik of the Congress to initiate the debate on the bill.
The bill seeks to bring an explanatory clarification about the age of eligibility for enhanced pension for retired judges.
Replying on the bill, Union Minister for Law and Justice Kiren Rijiju assured the House that there is no politics and everyone stands together when it comes to ensuring justice.
"There should be no gap between the common man and the justice system. I am thankful to all of you for supporting the bill without bringing any politics into it," he said.