The government and the opposition sparred in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday over the over passage of Aadhaar Bill in Lok Sabha as a money bill. Opposition members also questioned the bill's validity and opposed its introduction in the upper house.
Objecting to the bill, Communist Party of India-Marxist General Secretary Sitaram Yechury claimed that the bill was ultra vires of the Constitution. "The constitution provides for fundamental right to life and liberty. Liberty includes privacy. This bill violates individual privacy. This is something beyond the legislative competence of the house," the CPI-M leader said.
He also added that the Supreme Court is also looking into the matter. "The Supreme Court has constituted a five-member bench to examine the issue. Since the SC bench is seized of the matter and the court will pass a judicial verdict on it, this haste to legislate looks like a method of trying to subvert the judicial verdict," Yechury said.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who then got up to table the bill, also said that it's government's job to legislate. "The Supreme Court is considering the issue and, therefore, Parliament should suspend its own power of legislation. It is an unprecedented argument, particularly in a democracy which is governed by the separation of powers. The power to legislate belongs to Parliament. It doesn't belong to the court," he said.
Claiming that the government has deliberately misled the House, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh sought information from Jaitley on how the Aadhaar bill has been passed as a money bill. "Anybody who raises questions on Aadhaar is not anti-national, anti-technology. Do not make Aadhaar Bill a money bill. We would asked it to be referred to Select Committee. Parliament should delegate what information can UID collect. The whole of Aadhaar is subsidy reform. I supported the Aadhaar Bill when my party was in government and I support the Bill when my party is in opposition," Ramesh said.
Samajwadi Party leader Naresh Agrawal raised a point of order, and said the bill was converted into a money bill wrongly. "This bill is not fulfilling even a single condition of being a money bill. The Rajya Sabha is an independent house. We have the right to turn it down. I want to know how much money is being spent on Aadhaar. I want to know whom they want to oblige," Agrawal said.
However, Deputy Chairman PJ Kurien, made it clear that Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan's decision on the issue could not be questioned. "We cannot give any judgment on what the Lok Sabha speaker has done. The Constitution is very clear. The decision of the Speaker is final," Kurien said.
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