Gujarat Speaker reprimands govt depts for not sharing copies of Bills with Oppn in advance

Congress legislator Shailesh Parmar had brought it to the notice of the Speaker that copies of some Bills, which were scheduled to be tabled in the House on March 31 and April 1, were not shared with opposition members until Tuesday evening.

Gujarat Assembly Speaker Rajendra Trivedi reprimanded the government departments on Wednesday for failing to share copies of three government Bills with the Opposition MLAs within the prescribed time limit.

Congress legislator Shailesh Parmar had brought it to the notice of the Speaker that copies of The Gujarat Appropriation Bill, 2021, The Code or Criminal Procedure (Gujarat Amendment) Bill, 2021, and The Gujarat Clinical Establishments (Registration and Regulation) Bill, 2021, which were scheduled to be tabled in the House on March 31 and April 1, were not shared with opposition members until Tuesday evening.

“We received these Bills in our pigeon boxes only this morning. As per the Gujarat Assembly Rules, we should have got these Bills four days in advance and so, we demand that these Bills are not discussed in the House,” Parmar told the Speaker.

In response, Pradipsinh Jadeja, Minister of State for Legislative and Parliamentary Affairs said the English copies of The Code or Criminal Procedure (Gujarat Amendment) Bill, 2021, was sent two days ago.

“The Gujarati translations have taken time. Secondly, The Gujarat Appropriation Bill, 2021, does not have any new section or changes for which discussions is needed. It is true that members should get more time study a Bill. But the finance bills do not have anything new,” the minister said.

After hearing both the Opposition and Treasury benches, the Speaker said, “Considering all the situations, I believe that the under Rule 130 of the Gujarat Assembly, the copies of Bills which are supposed to come up for discussion in the House, should be given to all members in advance of at least four working days. In this case, the rule has been broken and so, it can be believed that the members did not get enough time to study the Bills.”

The Speaker said it was normal for finance bills to be tabled at a short notice and the Bill on Code of Criminal Procedures also has only a small change. The Gujarat Clinical Establishments (Registration and Regulation) Bill, 2021, is scheduled to be tabled for discussion on Thursday.

“So, I feel, the idea to postpone the discussions on the Bills, for which copies were not received, is not correct. The Bill, which is expected to be tabled tomorrow, has already been given to the members. I am censuring the departments connected with the government for not giving copies of the Bills four days in advance as per the rules. In future, the concerned departments should be careful and I am permitting discussion on the Bills,” Trivedi added.

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