Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju has left open the possibility of another sitting of Parliament, saying the Monsoon Session has not yet been prorogued and that there have been several instances in the past when a session was adjourned sine die and Parliament was subsequently summoned again.
Asked whether the government could call a special session, Rijiju declined to give a direct answer but pointed to parliamentary precedents that could allow the House to meet again without formally closing the existing session.
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“It is up to the government. Whenever Parliament is to be called, it is government which decides and requests the President to call the session,” Rijiju told India Today TV.
“When the House is not prorogued, then the session can be called.”
Asked specifically whether there could be another session, Rijiju said: “It is nothing new which we are doing.”
However, when asked if that meant a special session could be on the cards, he said: “No, that I will not answer.”
The interviewer, Preeti Chaudhary, then suggested that the minister’s remarks could be interpreted as leaving the possibility open.
“You can read both ways,” Rijiju responded.
“As a Parliamentary Affairs Minister, I am always open to people’s scrutiny and observation also, and then when the time comes” he said, without elaborating.
Rijiju also cited parliamentary history to reinforce his point, saying that since 1952 there had been “numerous occasions” when Parliament was adjourned sine die but not prorogued, after which the session was summoned again.
“After this interview I will give you the list,” he said.
The remarks come amid speculation over the government’s next move after the Monsoon Session was adjourned sine die without being formally prorogued. Both Houses were adjourned on August 13, but the session had still not been formally closed several days later, triggering questions from the Opposition about the possibility of the government using the existing session to bring back the Delimitation Bill and the Women’s Reservation Amendment Bill.
The Delimitation Bill, which was brought along with the Women’s Reservation Bill under the 131st Constitutional Amendment, failed to obtain the two-thirds majority required for passage in the Lok Sabha during the three-day special session in April.
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SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
