Parliament’s Winter Session 2015: 10 Bills to keep an eye on

After a largely unproductive Monsoon Session, the Indian Parliament will reconvene for the Winter Session commencing tomorrow. A total of 19 pending Bills are on the agenda – 8 in the Rajya Sabha and 11 in the Lok Sabha. A further 14 new Bills will be introduced in the houses..In this article, we analyse 10 of these Bills.. The Constitution (122nd Amendment) Bill, 2014 .The much awaited GST Bill seeks to club a multitude of indirect taxes under one head – the Goods and Services Tax. This will prevent cascading of taxes and result in a reduction of the price of goods. If the Bill is passed, both the Centre and the States will have powers make laws on GST. However, the amendment proposes to allow the Centre to levy an additional 1% tax on inter-state transport of goods..Full text of Bill . Negotiable Instruments (Second Amendment) Ordinance, Arbitration and Conciliation Amendment Ordinance, and the Commercial Courts Ordinances.Earlier this year, the Centre took the ordinance route to bring three new Bills into force. In September, the Negotiable Instruments (Second Amendment) Ordinance was passed to clarify jurisdictional issues in cheque bouncing cases under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act..Then, in October, two more ordinances were promulgated – the Arbitration and Conciliation Amendment Ordinance, and the Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division of High Courts Ordinance. (Read an analysis on the Arbitration Ordinance here.).Should these ordinances not receive the green signal during the Winter Session, they will lapse.. Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Bill, 2014.Perhaps the most controversial of the proposed legislations, the Juvenile Justice Bill seeks to treat offenders between 16-18 years as adults in the case of heinous offences. This particular clause was met with opposition from the Parliamentary Standing Committee, whose report shows that according NCRB records, there is no surge in crimes by juveniles to warrant such a drastic legislation..The Bill also seeks to introduce procedures for adoption, which the Standing Committee have dismissed as biased towards inter-country adoption..Full text of Bill. Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2012.This Bill proposes to outlaw employing children under the age of 14 years in an exhaustive list of occupations and processes. However, the child may be allowed to help her family after school hours. The Bill also makes a distinction between a child and an adolescent (14-18 years), who is prohibited from being employed in hazardous occupations including mines, work involving inflammable substances and hazardous processes listed under the Factories Act..Full text of Bill. Whistleblowers Protection (Amendment) Bill, 2015 .The Vyapam expose and its resultant fallout has necessitated a more potent law to protect whistleblowers. However, contrary to this objective, the Centre seeks to pass an amendment further diluting the existing law. The amendment proposes to add ten categories under which information may not be disclosed by the whistleblower. These exceptions are modelled on the lines of those contained in Section 8(1) of the RTI Act..A major difference between the two is that the RTI Act provides for an appeal process in case information is not made public. Moreover, under the RTI Act, the public authority may choose to reveal the information if he feels that it is in the larger public interest..Full text of Bill. Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill, 2013.In tune with the Centre’s anti-corruption line, this amendment seeks to impose more stringent penalties on corrupt government officials. The minimum sentence is proposed to be increased from 6 months to 3 years, and the maximum sentence from 5 to 7 years..However, to prove criminal misconduct, it must also be proved that the government official had an intention of acquiring disproportionate assets. Further, bribe givers will no longer be protected from prosecution if they testify as a witness during the corruption trial..The amendment also comes as a relief for corporates, as it seeks to do away with the extension of liability to the organisation as a whole if a particular member of the organisation is found guilty of corruption..Full text of Bill. High Court and Supreme Court Judges (Salaries and Conditions of Service) Amendment Bill, 2015.The most important change this amendment seeks to bring in is the addition of 10 years of Bar practice to the qualifying service of High Court judges, for the purposes of calculating pension..The Bill also provides for a revamp of leave allowances for Supreme Court and High Court judges. For the Chief Justice of India, it will be 50% of his monthly salary rate; for other judges of the apex court, it will be 55%. The Chief Justice of a High Court will also get 55% of his salary as leave allowance, whereas other High Court judges will get 60%..Full text of Bill. Repealing and Amending (Fourth) Bill, 2015.Pursuant to the Centre’s endeavour to do away with obsolete laws, this Bills intends to repeal 295 laws identified by the Law Ministry and the Law Commission. It also seeks to make minor changes to the Sexual Harassment of Women at the Work Place (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013, and the Governors (Emoluments, Allowances and Privileges) Amendment Act, 2014..Full text of the Bill.The following are new Bills likely to be introduced this session:. High Courts (Alteration of Names) Bill, 2015.This Bill will be introduced in order to “facilitate changing the name of High Courts whenever the need arises”. The Centre has taken a call to introduce this Bill amidst demands that various high courts be renamed to correspond to their city names. We may well see the Mumbai High Court and the Chennai High Court in the near future.. The National Commission for Women Bill, 2015.This Bill proposes to repeal the National Commission for Women Act, 1990 and to “adequately protect the rights of women”.