Oppn MPs allege violation of rules in Waqf Bill meeting

On Tuesday, 15 October, Opposition MPs wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on the "gross violation of parliamentary code of conduct" by panel chairman Jagdambika Pal in the meeting of the joint committee examining the Waqf (Amendment) Bill.

The letter came a day after several opposition MPs boycotted a sitting of the committee over the submission of former Karnataka State Minorities Commission chairman Anwar Manippady, who named several opposition leaders, including Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and K. Rahman Khan, in the alleged embezzlement of waqf properties.

"The proceedings of the Committee were conducted in a biased and partisan manner by the Chairperson, Shri Jagdambika Pal," Opposition members Gaurav Gogoi, Syed Naseer Hussain, Imran Masood (all Congress), A.Raja and M.M. Abdulla (both DMK), Asaduddin Owaisi (AIMIM) and Kalyan Banerjee (TMC) said in the letter.

The Joint Committee on Waqf (Amendment) Bill had on Monday, 14 October, called Manippady to hear his views on the draft legislation in the context of the Karnataka Waqf Scam Report of 2012.

"The note contained no observations on the the Waqf (Amendment) Bill 2024. Instead, it was full of politically motivated allegations against leaders of the Karnataka Congress, including Shri Mallikarjun Kharge, Hon'ble Leader of Opposition (Rajya Sabha)," the letter said.

The members said despite vehement protests by several committee members that Kharge occupies a constitutional position of high dignity and is not present in the meeting, the witness was allowed to speak by the chairperson.

The Opposition members also said that Pal refused to provide adequate time to the committee members to lodge their protests.

"We request your immediate intervention in the matter, and expect you to remind the Chairperson of the Committee of his duty to be bipartisan and uphold parliamentary norms," the Opposition members said.