Amid opposition by the Congress, the lok Sabha on Wednesday passed the Delhi Special Police Establishment (Amendment) Bill, 2014, that provides for inclusion of leader of the single largest Opposition party in the three-member committee that selects the CBI Director, since there is no recognised leader of the Opposition in the lok Sabha.
The Committee has the Prime Minister and Chief Justice of India as other members. The Congress alleged that the Government was hurrying up with an amendment that was aimed at keeping the largest Opposition party out of the selection process, a charge denied by the Centre.
The amendment Bill also stipulated "no appointment of a Director shall be invalid merely by reason of any vacancy or absence of a member in the committee."
The discussion on the amendment Bill that was introduced in the House on Tuesday continued on Wednesday with Congress seeking that the Government withdraw the Bill and bring a comprehensive amendment.
After the debate, the Bill was passed by a voice vote but not before the demand for a division of votes on its consideration and an amendment moved by the BJD member Tathagat Satpathy were rejected.
leader of Congress in lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge asked the Government to withdraw the measure and bring forward a comprehensive amendment. The BJD members Tathagat Satpathy and Bhartruhari Mahtab backed Kharge.
"The Bill has been brought exclusively to keep out the single largest Opposition party," said Kharge.
He said since the Prime Minister and Chief Justice of India are the only other two members, it is believed that absence will arise only of the Opposition leader and they can go ahead with the appointment.
"If that is the intention, that is not good. Purposely it has been done...We are ready to be beheaded, but we will not bend (Sar kat jayega, per jhuknewale nahi). Our Opposition is valid. It poses a big danger. It is a double edged sword," he said.
In response, Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said no one was going to be beheaded. "It is the job of the people whether or not to strengthen the opposition. We have brought forward the amendments taking into consideration the spirit of democracy," Naidu said.
However, another Congress leader Veerappa Moily criticised what he called "stubborn" attitude of the Government which was not suited to democracy. "laws should be universal and not brought in to meet contingencies," he said.
Moily dismissed Government's plea that the amendment was based on "legislative practice" and challenged it to show "even one such previous instance" in Parliament's history".
Maintaining that various institutions were at loggerheads and the Government was "just enjoying without taking any action," the former law Minister said "CVC versus CBI, Supreme Court versus CBI, CBI versus CBI. Where are we goingIJ"