A Joint Parliamentary Committee cleared the Waqf Amendment Bill Monday afternoon with 14 changes to the draft tabled in the House in August last year. Opposition MPs on the committee led by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s Jagadambika Pal had proposed 44 amendments, all of which were rejected.Voting on the 14 proposed changes will take place on January 29, and the final report will be submitted by January 31, sources told NDTV. The committee had originally been asked to file the report by November 29 but that deadline was extended to February 13, the final day of the Budget Session.
The committee set up to study the amendments has had several hearings but many have ended in chaos after opposition MPs accused the Chair of bias towards the ruling party.
Last week opposition MPs wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to voice their concerns, saying Mr Pal was trying to “steamroll” the Waqf Amendment Bill through, with one eye on the Feb 5 Delhi election.
The appeal came after 10 opposition MPs were suspended; they, and their colleagues, complained that hey were not being given time to study the suggested changes.
The suspended MPs included the Trinamool Congress’ Kalyan Banerjee and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen boss Asaduddin Owaisi, both of whom are fierce critics of the Waqf Amendment Bill.