Parliament Winter Session: A Roundup Of Bills Passed

A day ahead of schedule, the Winter Session of the Parliament was adjourned sine die on December 21. The Winter session which began on December 4 concluded on December 22.

Here’s a roundup of the Bills passed in the Winter Session of Parliament:

The Lok Sabha passed a total of 18 bills, while 17 bills were passed in Rajya Sabha during this session. The key bills passed in both the houses included the three amended laws; Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha (Second) Sanhita and Bharatiya Sakshya (Second) Sanhita – to replace the IPC, CrPC and the Indian Evidence Act, telecom bill and the bills related to the appointment of election commissioners.

The Rajya Sabha passed a total of 17 Bills including legislations related to Jammu & Kashmir, Appointment of Election Commissioners, the Post Office Bill, The Telecommunications Bill. Three criminal bills – Bharatiya Nyaya (Second) Sanhita, 2023, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha (Second) Sanhita, 2023, and the Bharatiya Sakshya (Second) Bill, 2023 – that seek to overhaul the country’ criminal justice system by replacing colonial-era laws, were unanimously passed today. The three bills were passed in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.

The lower house passed two bills—the Central Goods and Services Tax (Second Amendment) Bill, 2023, and the Provisional Collection of Taxes Bill, 2023. The Central Goods and Services Tax (Second Amendment) Bill, 2023, seeks to cap the age for the president and members of the GST appellate tribunals (GSTAT) at 70 years and 67 years, respectively, higher than 67 years and 65 years specified earlier.

The houses passed the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill, 2023 and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization (Second Amendment) Bill, 2023, which provides for reservation of one-third of the total number of seats in the Legislative Assembly of the Union Territory (Jammu and Kashmir) for women.

Similarly, the Government of Union Territories (Amendment) Bill, 2023 was also passed in the houses, which reserves one-third of all elected seats in the Puducherry assembly for women.

The Lok Sabha recorded 74% productivity in the session, and the House held 14 sittings and worked for 61 hours and 50 minutes, according to Speaker Om Birla.

Notably, during the session, 100 MPs, including three on Thursday, were suspended from the Lower House and 46 MPs were suspended from the Rajya Sabha for unruly behaviour and misconduct.

Source: Law Street Journal