Oppn MPs say waqf panel's tour meetings lack quorum

Several Opposition MPs of the parliamentary committee examining the Waqf (Amendment) Bill have suggested that the assurance they received after meeting Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has not been met and have accused the panel chairman of going ahead with a tour of states despite his meetings lacking even the quorum.

Jagdambika Pal, chairman of the Joint Committee of Parliament formed to scrutinise the contentious bill tabled by the government in the last Monsoon Session, rejected Opposition members' contention, asserting that 'study tours' of parliamentary panels are an informal exercise and are not bound by formalities like meeting the quorum.

The Pal-led committee is currently on a tour of five states to speak to various stakeholders though opposition members have boycotted it.

The panel chairman told PTI on Sunday that he is confident of meeting the deadline of submitting the Committee's report by the last day of the first week of the Winter Session, which begins on November 25, adding that he has already prepared its 200-250 pages.

Opposition MPs of the committee have, however, joined hands to question his functioning, alleging that Pal, a BJP MP, is doing the government's bidding, and they had earlier even threatened to disassociate themselves with its work.

Their main concern was the frequent day-long meetings of the panel which did not allow them to prepare adequately and had accused Pal of "bulldozing proceedings" by not consulting them in picking on whom to call to depose.

After meeting Birla on Tuesday, the Opposition MPs had described their discussion as fruitful, praising him for hearing them patiently and assuring them of looking into their grievances.

In separate communications to Birla on November 9, some opposition MPs said they believed following their meeting with him on November 5 that the five-state tour of the Joint Committee of Parliament headed by Bharatiya Janata Party MP Jagdambika Pal may be deferred as there is no 'immediate urgency' to submit the panel's report, sources said.

Opposition members in their letters to Birla have expressed dismay and surprise at the tour, noting that his meeting in Guwahati had only five members, 'far less' than even the quorum. They have boycotted the tour.

Those who have written to the Speaker include Dravda Munnetra Kazhagam's A Raja, Congress's Mohammad Jawed and Trinamool Congress's Kalyan Banerjee, sources said.

Pal said as the committee's chairman he is not feeling good about the boycott of Opposition MPs who were part of its earlier study tour across southern states, noting that his only motivation is to record the views of a maximum of stakeholders as many of them cannot come to Delhi.

Asked if he was certain that the committee will meet its deadline, Pal said he was "absolutely certain".

Opposition MPs in their letters to the Speaker said they believed after meeting him that the committee's meetings will now be held either one day in a week or two consecutive days in a fortnight to allow them to prepare and study the submissions made in its sittings, the sources said.

They said they received a 'ray of hope' that their grievances would be addressed, they added.

However, Pal went ahead with the tour to their dismay and surprise, they said.

This is the third coordinated communication these MPs have made to Birla, targeting Pal's way of functioning.

"We like to point out the Chairman of JPC has reduced the proceedings to a mockery in complete breach of constitutional morality and well-established parliamentary practices," said an Opposition MPs' letter of November 9.

Expressing disappointment at the charge of the opposition MPs, Pal claimed that there is 'no bigger democrat' than him as he pointed out that he has repeatedly allowed them to raise as many points and ask as many questions in its meetings as they wanted.

"Ask Asaduddin Owaisi (AIMIM), who attends the committee's meetings with a lot of preparations. I have always allowed him to make his points. Or be it Syed Naseer Hussain (Congress) or Kalyan Banerjee (TMC).

"There is no point in boycotting study tours in which we merely record stakeholders' views," he said.