Friday, Apr 26, 2024 | Last Update : 02:15 PM IST
Opposition tears into government on new Ordinance
The Opposition said that it has become a habit of this government to bypass Parliament and promulgate Ordinances.
New Delhi: The Opposition on Wednesday once again hit out at the Narendra Modi government after the Cabinet approved an Ordinance criminalising possession of demonetised Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes after the deadline of March 31, 2017 is over.
The Opposition said that it has become a habit of this government to bypass Parliament and promulgate Ordinances.
CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury said that the government should have brought the law before the Parliament during the Winter Session.
“It was inevitable for the government to bring the Ordinance or else demonetisation move would not be legal... in actual practice, they should have amended the law concerned when Parliament was in session (to validate the December 30 deadline),” he said.
Mr Yechury added that the government is scared to face Parliament. “There is no need for taking Ordinance route. But, afraid of law like this facing Parliament during Winter Session, the backdoor method has been employed by the Modi government.”
The Congress was also critical of the government’s habit of taking the “backdoor route” instead of facing Parliament. Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari said, “It is bizarre that an Ordinance is coming out like this. It clearly shows that the government is afraid of facing Parliament.”
The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved promulgation of an Ordinance to impose a penalty, including a jail term, for possession of the scrapped `500 and `1,000 notes.
“Modi doesn’t face parliament where representatives of the people can question him on behalf of the vast masses. He doesn’t take any questions from the media... He doesn’t answer any serious questions from the public which come through the RTI. Why is Modi so scared of questions? One, he clearly doesn't have answers. And two, he has a lot to hide,” he said.
In the recently concluded Winter Session, the combined Opposition had accused the PM of snubbing the Parliament.
They had demanded that the Prime Minister be present during the discussion on demonetisation. This had ensured that the entire session was virtually washed out.
