Aadhaar Bill passed after tussle

Bill clears Parliament as Lok Sabha Sabha rejects Rajya Sabha amendments

The battle for one-upmanship between the government and the Opposition on the Aadhaar Bill on Wednesday witnessed the spectacle of the Rajya Sabha proposing amendments, and the Lok Sabha rejecting them in quick time. After the Rajya Sabha returned the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Bill 2016 with several amendments to the Lok Sabha, the Lower House rejected all of them in the evening.

As the Aadhaar Bill is a money bill, it now only needs the assent of President Pranab Mukherjee to come into effect.

In an indication of the political coming together of UPA-1 constituents (2004-09) for the West Bengal Assembly polls, the Congress and Left in the Rajya Sabha bonded as a team to pass several amendments to the bill by majority vote to put the government in a tight spot. The Trinamul Congress, BSP, BJD and JD(U) staged a walkout from the Rajya Sabha, and thus didn’t throw their weight behind the Congress-Left combine. The Congress later said it would challenge the bill in court once it becomes a law, according to party spokesman Abhishek Singhvi.

In the Rajya Sabha, finance minister Arun Jaitley and CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury were locked in a debate over the legislative competence of Parliament in the backdrop of a five-member bench of the Supreme Court being seized of the Aadhaar issue. Mr Yechury raised a point of order over consideration of the bill, which Chairman Hamid Ansari overruled, saying it had been sent by the Lok Sabha. The Opposition MPs questioned the bill being brought as a money bill. Mr Jaitley countered the issue of it being sub-judice by saying that the role of Parliament was to legislate, and the courts may later review the laws.

Congress MP Jairam Ramesh, who was minister for rural development in UPA-2, moved amendments to Clause 7 of the bill, that seeks mandatory enrolment of beneficiaries in the Aadhaar ecosystem to avail benefits. These were passed by a majority vote.

Opposition MPs raised their concerns over the issue of privacy and national security during which the recent JNU row and the slapping of sedition charges against students too cropped up. However, Mr Jaitley claimed the present bill was different from the one brought by UPA as it had further tightened privacy provisions with regard to sharing of information of individuals gathered by the Unique Identification Authority of India.

Mr Jaitley and Mr Yechury also sparred over the issue of national security, with the latter seeking an explanation on the difference between “national security” and “public safety” from the government. Mr Jaitley snapped at this, saying “Mr Yechury is giving a running commentary” and that the CPI(M) leader was indulging in “intellectual arrogance”. The finance minister quoted an anonymous comment to buttress his point: “If you criticise me, it is your freedom of expression. If I criticise you, it is my intolerance.” Mr Yechury too snapped back, accusing Mr Jaitley of “displaying authoritarian arrogance”.