Opposition Members of Parliament Kalyan Banerjee (Lok Sabha) and Md. Nadimul Haque (Rajya Sabha) have strongly protested the expunction of key portions of their dissent notes submitted to the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024.
In a letter addressed to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, the MPs alleged that their objections were removed arbitrarily without prior notice or explanation.
“To our dismay and utter surprise, we found that the following objectives and dissent notes have been deleted by the Chairman without informing us and without our consent,” the MPs wrote in their letter dated February 3, 2025.
The dissent notes, submitted after the draft report of the Waqf (Amendment) Bill was approved with 14 members in favour and 11 against, criticized the committee’s proceedings and recommendations.
Banerjee and Haque alleged that the committee’s conclusions were biased and predetermined. “The observations and/or recommendations are a glaring instance of preconceived motions and views of the Chairperson and the members of the ruling party,” the letter stated.
They further claimed that the committee ignored stakeholder representations, witness depositions, and submissions made by opposition members.
“While making the observations and/or recommendations, not a single stakeholder’s representation, deposition of witnesses, or submissions made by the opposition members, including us, was taken into consideration,” the dissent note read.
Banerjee and Haque also criticized the procedural lapses, alleging that the minutes of the meetings were manipulated. “The minutes were made as per the dictation of the Chairperson and do not paint the true picture of the JPC meetings,” they asserted.
Questioning the legitimacy of the expunction, the MPs argued that none of their comments were unparliamentary or inappropriate. “If your good self goes through the dissent notes submitted by us, you will find that not a single expression or phrase is unparliamentary, irrelevant, or otherwise inappropriate which gives the power to the Chairperson to delete or expunge,” they wrote.
The MPs urged Speaker Om Birla to reinstate the deleted sections of their dissent notes and ensure their full circulation. “We humbly request you to kindly include the aforesaid points in the dissent note, and the full dissent note may be ordered to be circulated and uploaded,” the letter stated. (ANI)
