Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu on Monday rejected the allegations made by the Opposition in a letter written to him last week that their voice was being "smothered" and the Government was rushing through the passage of bills without parliamentary scrutiny.
At least 15 MPs from 14 political parties had in a letter to Naidu on July 25 expressed concern over it and responding to it, the Chairman said eight out of 10 bills which came to the Rajya Sabha were sent to the Standing or Select Committee during the last two years. He also said empirical evidence proves that the complaint does not stand scrutiny.
Elaborating upon it, Naidu said 15 members belonging to 14 parties addressed him a letter conveying what they called their anguish and concern over passing of Bills without scrutiny by either Parliamentary Standing or Select Committees.
Noting that the contents of the letter were widely reported in the media, Naidu said, "This has cast a cloud over the functioning of our apex legislature which is not good for our parliamentary democracy."
He said the members have quoted some statistics about the number of bills referred and not referred to scrutiny either by parliamentary committees during the 14th, 15th, 16th and the present Lok Sabha.
"If their complaint is that Bills first introduced in these Lok Sabha sessions were not referred to parliamentary committees for scrutiny that is not certainly in my domain as the Chairman of Rajya Sabha. So, I am not in a position to respond to this complaint and I feel that this complaint, if any, has been addressed to the wrong person," Naidu said.
Naidu further said "since a broad message" has gone about hurried legislation by Parliament, of which Rajya Sabha is a constituent, as its Chairman, he would like to clarify the factual position regarding scrutiny of Bills introduced in the Upper House.
During the last five sessions that he has presided (244th to 248th sessions), Naidu said 10 Bills have been first introduced by the government in Rajya Sabha adding ""I have referred 8 of those 10 Bills to respective Department Related Standing Committees, though it is not mandatory to do so."
The other two Bills that were not so referred related to inclusion of some more groups in the category of Scheduled tribes as they did not warrant a detailed scrutiny by standing committee.
Further, one more Bill — The Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill — as received from the Lok Sabha after detailed scrutiny by the Standing Committee concerned and passage by the other House was again referred to the Select Committee of Rajya Sabha.
"I hope that all of you would agree that such a record would not justify the allegation if it is so intended that Rajya Sabha is a party to hurried legislation," Naidu said.
During the current session (249th), four bills have so far been introduced first in the Rajya Sabha. Of these, three Bills have been taken up for consideration and passed. These Bills could not be referred to Standing Committees because they are still to be constituted, Naidu said. Also, it is for the House to decide if a Bill is to be referred to the Select Committee and not the Chairman of the House, he added.
The fourth Bill — the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Bill — first introduced in the Rajya Sabha is still to be taken for consideration and passing.
The Chairman also said seven more Bills to be taken up in the Rajya Sabha for consideration as received from the Lok Sabha also have been already scrutinised by standing committees
As regards alleged ""smothering of the voice"" of the Opposition as mentioned in the letter, Naidu said the members talked about the inadequacy of Short Duration Discussions in the House.