Congress slams Rijiju's claim that Bihar SIR cannot be discussed in Parliament; cites precedents

New Delhi: The Congress on Thursday attacked Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju for his remarks citing a previous ruling and rules that prohibit discussing issues that are subjudice, claiming that he is "misleading" people and Parliament as the House has a "long, bipartisan tradition" of discussing electoral reforms and the functioning of the Election Commission.

After a protest by I.N.D.I.A MPs at the Makar Dwar of the Parliament demanding a discussion on Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Bihar and other states, Congress Lok Sabha Deputy Leader Gaurav Gogoi alleged that there have been several instances between the 1950s and 2019 when discussions were held on electoral issues.

"Parliament has a long history of discussing electoral reforms and the functioning of the Election Commission, It has a long, bipartisan tradition of discussing electoral reforms and the functioning of the EC. The minister was misleading people and Parliament," he told reporters.

On Wednesday, Rijiju said in Lok Sabha that the matter of SIR is under consideration of the Supreme Court and under Rule 186(8) and 352(1), no issues pending before the judiciary could be discussed in Parliament. He also referred to then Speaker Balram Jakhar refusing a demand to discuss the functioning of the Election Commission. “Rules are very clear that the House cannot have a discussion on this,” Rijiju added.

"There is ample precedent. The government must not delay the long overdue and essential discussion on electoral reforms...Lack of precedent is not the reason behind the government's reluctance, it's the lack of preparedness to take accountability," he said.

Gogoi said the argument by the government in the past few days was that the EC cannot respond and which minister can reply to a debate. He said there were several instances in the past when the Law Minister responded to the debate.

He said that in 1957, the Lok Sabha had discussed the policy statement on the Representation of the People (Conduct of Elections and Election Petitions) Rules, while in 1979, a Short Duration Discussion under Rule 193 was held on the alleged payment of foreign money for elections in India by the US government.

He said that in 1981, Lok Sabha held a Short Duration Discussion on inadequacies in electoral law, specifically the absence of a time-bound provision for completing bye-elections to the Parliament, while in 1995, the Lok Sabha took up a Short Duration Discussion on the postponement of elections in Bihar, raising serious concerns about democratic processes.

In 2005, he said, electoral reforms were once again debated through Short Duration Discussions spread across two consecutive days.

Gogoi also pointed out that the Rajya Sabha had debated amendments to the Conduct of Elections Rules — the discussion was led by then Law Minister Gopal Swarup Pathak. Congress MP Manubhai Patel moved a resolution in 1981 to set up a parliamentary committee to review election laws. The Upper House in 1991 debated the urgent need to amend existing election laws, he said.

"In 2015, a Calling Attention Motion was moved by Rajya Sabha LoP Ghulam Nabi Azad on proxy and e-postal voting for NRIs. Law Minister D V Sadananda Gowda accepted the Opposition’s demand to consider their views and as recently as 2019, a Short Duration Discussion on electoral reforms saw participation from the then Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad," he added.