Out of the total 55 Bills, Twenty Two bills are set to lapse with the dissolution of 16th Lok Sabha that has recently concluded its Budget Session on 13th February. Among the most controversial bills that lapse are Citizenship Amendment Bill 2016, Triple Talaq Bill, Adhaar and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2019 that was cleared by Lok Sabha but could not be taken for discussion in the upper House of the Parliament.
According to the Rajya Sabha Legislative Procedure, a Bill pending in the Upper House which has not been passed by Lok Sabha does not lapse on the dissolution of the Lower House. But a Bill passed by Lower House (Lok Sabha) and is pending at Rajya Sabha stands Lapsed on the dissolution of Lok Sabha.
Citizenship Amendment Bill
The Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2016, that was passed in Lok Sabha on January 8 seeks to provide citizenship to non-muslim migrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.
The bill seeks to amend the Citizenship Act, 1955, to grant Indian nationality to people belonging to non-muslim minority communities — Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians — in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan after six years of residence in India instead of 12, even if they don’t possess any proper document.
The Bill ever passed in Lok Sabha have led to protests in the North-East States.
Adhar and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2019
The Bill was cleared in Lok Sabha on January 4 but could not be taken up for consideration by the Rajya Sabha. This legislation provided for any individual to voluntarily use her Aadhaar number to establish her identity, by authentication or offline verification. The Bill said no person shall be denied any service for not having an Aadhaar number and added that the authentication of an individual’s identity via Aadhaar, for the provision of any service, can only be made mandatory by a law of Parliament.
Triple Talaq Bill [Women Protection Bill]
The Triple Talaq Bill remains stuck in the Rajya Sabha in face of a combined opposition insisting that it be scrutinized by a select committee of the House. The Triple Talaq Bill was passed by Lok Sabha in December last year amid opposition uproar.
Since the bill could not get the parliamentary approval, the fresh ordinance was issued on January 13. The Union Cabinet had before that approved the re-issuance of the ordinance.
The new Bill will deem the practice ‘illegal’, with the husband supposedly facing a prison sentence of three years. The BJP led government had many amendments to the original Bill after it faced a lot of criticism from opposition parties as the earlier don’t have the provision of Bail.
Whistle Blowers Protection (Amendment) Bill, 2015
This legislation provided a mechanism for receiving and inquiring into public interest disclosures against acts of corruption or criminal offences by public servants. The Bill, however, created 10 categories and prohibited the reporting any acts of corruption if they pertained to economic, scientific interests or the security of India, to Cabinet proceedings, intellectual property, information received in a fiduciary capacity, or was information obtained under the Official Secrets Act.
Bills pending in Rajya Sabha that will be lapsed with the dissolution of 16th Lok Sabha
The 16th Lok Sabha will be officially dissolved when the five-year term is over, or if the President issues an order for dissolution before that. The five-year term will be over in May. However, recently concluded Budget Session was the last session of the current 16th Lok Sabha.
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