New IT bill passed in just 3 minutes
NEW DELHI, Aug 11: Parliament on Monday passed eight Bills as Union Minister Kiren Rijiju slammed the Opposition parties for repeated disruptions of both the Houses of Parliament and announced that the Government would proceed with the legislative agenda without their participation.
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Addressing a press conference here, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Rijiju also hinted at an early end of the Monsoon session, contending that the Congress and other opposition parties were not interested in allowing Parliament to function.
“Woh toh dekhte hai (Let us see it)… Opposition is not interested in allowing Parliament to function. The Opposition is interested only in headline management. They do not trust democratic institutions,” Rijiju said in response to a question on an early end to the ongoing Monsoon session of Parliament.
The session began on June 21 and has witnessed disruptions for 14 days, barring a two-day discussion on Operation Sindoor and the Pahalgam terror attack. It is scheduled to last till August 21.
The Lok Sabha passed four Bills — The National Sports Governance Bill, The National Anti-Doping (Amendment) Bill, The Income-Tax (No 2) Bill and Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill — amid protests from the Opposition on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar.
The Rajya Sabha passed The Readjustment of Representation of Scheduled Tribes in Assembly Constituencies of the State of Goa Bill and The Merchant Shipping Bill, and also returned the Manipur Appropriation Bill and The Manipur Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Bill, which were already passed by the Lok Sabha.
“Every day, we will not allow the country’s and Parliament’s time to be wasted on one issue. Therefore, we will pass important Bills,” Rijiju said.
The minister said the government was keen to have a discussion on important Bills, but repeated disruptions by the Opposition were leading to adjournments of both Houses of Parliament.
He said the opposition members were not interested in raising matters related to public interest and were only keen on protesting on one issue every day.
“You have raised an issue, do it for one day. What is the point in raising the same issue every day?” the Minister said, referring to the Opposition’s protests on the revision of electoral rolls in Bihar.
Opposition parties have been demanding a rollback of the SIR of electoral rolls in Bihar ahead of the assembly elections this year.
The Opposition has been seeking a discussion on the issue in Parliament, a demand dismissed by the government, contending that the functioning of a constitutional authority cannot be discussed in the House.
“You raised the issue one day, let it be. What is the point in raising the same issue time and again and wasting the time of Parliament?” Rijiju said.
The Minister claimed that some opposition members have said that they were helpless as their leader has been allowing deliberate disruption of Parliament.
“People have been elected to Parliament for public welfare, but if you are going to resort to disruptions every day, how will you serve the people?” Rijiju said.
The Minister said the Opposition has no trust in the Supreme Court, the Election Commission or Parliament.
“They attack constitutional organisations. Why do they indulge in this drama every day?” he asked.
Meanwhile, the Income Tax Bill (No.2) 2025 – a major legislative move to replace the 63-year-old law governing income taxation for individuals and corporations – was passed in the Lok Sabha on Monday in just three minutes, without any debate.
The Bill, which streamlines TDS, exemptions and other compliance-heavy provisions as also allows individuals to claim refunds without penalty on delayed filings, was passed as the opposition parties continued to disrupt proceedings over allegations of irregularities in the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who had on August 8 withdrawn the Income Tax Bill, 2025 she had introduced in February, on Monday introduced an updated version incorporating recommendations made by a Parliamentary panel that scrutinised the legislation. Amid slogan shouting by the opposition, the bill was put to vote and passed by voice vote.
The Bill will now go to the Rajya Sabha for approval and thereafter to the President for assent. It will become law once the Presidential assent is provided.
The new bill reduces the size and complexity of the current Income Tax Act, drastically cutting the number of effective sections and chapters and nearly halving the word count.
“Almost all of the recommendations of the Select Committee have been accepted by the Government. In addition, suggestions have been received from stakeholders about changes that would convey the proposed legal meaning more accurately,” said the statement of Objects and Reasons of the Income Tax (No.2) Bill.
It does away with the confusing concepts of assessment year and previous year, replacing them with easier to understand ‘tax year’.
According to the revised Bill, individuals will be allowed to claim TDS refund even if their return of income is filed beyond the statutory timeline provided for filing of the original income-tax return. (PTI)
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