Rajya Sabha passes three bills without debate as Left walks out in protest

New Delhi: Three bills were passed in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday within minutes and one was introduced, as Congress and BJP came together to complete the pending legislative business but Left parties staged a walkout alleging that “A- Team and B-Team” have come together with an “understanding” to pass the measures without any debate. The bills were passed within a few minutes without debate amid noisy scenes in the House. The bills passed were the Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division of High Courts Bill, 2015, the Arbitration and Conciliation Act (Amendment) Bill, 2015 and the Atomic Energy (Amendment) Bill, 2015. While the first two bills are aimed at creating commercial benches in select high courts and amending a law on arbitration for speedy settlement of high value business disputes, the Atomic Energy Bill will allow state-run NPCIL to have collaboration with other PSUs in the nuclear field. [caption id=“attachment_2557310” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational Image. PTI[/caption] The Atomic Energy Bill that was passed in Lok Sabha on 14 December, proposes to amend the 1962 Atomic Energy Act to change the definition of “government company” with a view to expand its scope by including such joint venture companies which may be formed between NPCIL and other PSUs. Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh also introduced the Rajendra Central Agriculture University Bill, 2015 that seeks to convert the existing agriculture university of Bihar in Pusa to a central university for the development of agriculture and agricultural studies. Opposing the passage of bills without discussion, D Raja (CPI) said it was not a good precedent to pass bills in such a manner. K N Balagopal (CPI-M) said the Congress and BJP were acting as A-Team and B-Team and not allowing the House to discuss the bills. Trinamool Congress member Sukhendu Sekhar Roy also agreed with Raja. They felt that there were some “fundamental issues” with the Atomic Energy Bill in particular. Raja, who was a member in the Parliamentary panel that examined the Commercial Courts Bill, said there was “no consensus” on the measure and it will have “serious repurcussions” for justice delivery to the poor. While concurring with him, Deputy Chairman P J Kurien cited “compulsion” in allowing the passage of some bills without discussion due to the House not functioning earlier. PTI