JPC meet on Waqf Bill ends; final draft adopted
Insight Online News
New Delhi, Jan 29 : The Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) meeting that was held to scrutinise the contentious Waqf Amendment Bill ended on Wednesday with the JPC adopting the Bill with 14 votes in favour and 11 against. The Opposition members of the JPC have time till 4 pm on Wednesday to register their dissent.
The JPC had on Monday approved the Waqf Amendment Bill with 14 amendments proposed by the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) members.
Opposition MPs had submitted 44 changes which were rejected, which led to a furore by political parties. Voting on the proposed changes was held today.
On Monday, the Waqf Amendment Bill that is seeking to bring reforms in the way Waqf Boards are administered across the country got cleared by the JPC with a margin of 16:10 members (16 from NDA and 10 from Opposition parties).
One of the amendments aims to empower the state government to appoint an officer to determine whether a property is Waqf or not — instead of the District Collector who was given absolute powers to do so in the proposed Bill.
In the Waqf Act 1995, that power is vested in survey commissioners and additional commissioners.
The panel also approved changes to another contentious provision that mandated the inclusion of two non-Muslim members in the Central Waqf Council and state Waqf Boards.
It dropped the term ‘mandatory’ and proposed changes in the composition of the Waqf Board by increasing it to three members, including a scholar.
According to reports, a total of 66 amendments were proposed in the Waqf Bill including 23 by the ruling BJP MPs and 44 from Opposition members.
JPC chairman and BJP MP Jagdambika Pal, speaking to reporters said on Monday that it was the final meeting of the Parliamentary panel and a total of 14 amendments had been cleared on the basis of a majority.
“In the past six months of deliberations, we discussed many amendments. All amendments were put to vote today and members gave out their verdict with 16 voting in its favour while 14 opposed the amendments,” he told newsmen.
The JPC meets have witnessed chaotic scenes with the Opposition accusing the committee chairman of bias and inclination towards the ruling party.
The Opposition also claimed that the procedure was being hastened to start a narrative ahead of Assembly elections in the national Capital.
As many as 11 Opposition MPs in the JPC on Monday hit out at the ‘autocratic’ behaviour of Chairman Jagdambika Pal and his haste in accepting the 14 amendments proposed by the NDA members.
In a joint statement, the Opposition MPs said, “As the committee has arrived at its closure part of the deliberation, we the members of the Opposition registered our protest then and there both in conducting the proceedings of the JPC by the chairman as well the gross and serious deviations from the rules and procedures contemplated thereon.”
Citing several instances of being denied the time to study documents, the MPs said they want to highlight a few wilful and wanton “disregard by the Chairman in sharing the details of deliberations of the Committee.”
The allegations were however brushed aside by the BJP MP Aparajita Sarangi, who said that every member was given “ample time and was heard out by the JPC chief.”
The JPC committee on the Waqf Bill had to submit its recommendations by November 29, however, the deadline was extended till February 13.
