Part 1 of stormy Budget Session ends: Parliament to meet again on March 9

The first part of the Budget Session began on January 28 with the address of President Droupadi Murmu to a joint sitting of the two Houses.

New Delhi: The tumultuous first leg of the Budget Session of Parliament, which saw heated exchanges over the India-US interim trade deal and unpublished memoir of former army chief MM Naravane, concluded Friday, February 13, and the House will now reassemble on March 9.

The three-week recess period will allow standing committees to examine allocations to various central ministries given in the Union Budget.

Earlier in the day, the Lok Sabha was adjourned for one hour after Opposition members raised slogans demanding the resignation of Union Minister Hardeep Puri. They were also protesting against the India-US interim trade agreement.

The first part of the Budget Session began on January 28 with the address of President Droupadi Murmu to a joint sitting of the two Houses.

The Lok Sabha witnessed dramatic scenes and repeated adjournments from February 2 afternoon after the Chair disallowed Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi to quote from the excerpts of the memoir of Naravane relating to the India-China conflict of 2020.

The House witnessed noisy protests and dramatic scenes in the coming days, leading to the suspension of seven Congress and one Communist Party of India (Marxist) member from the House for the remainder of the Budget Session for unruly behaviour, including climbing on tables of officials and throwing torn papers at the Chair.

Fearing unpleasant scenes, Speaker Om Birla requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi not to attend the Lok Sabha when he was to respond to the Motion of Thanks on the President’s address. The PM did not speak in the House but later responded to a similar debate in the Rajya Sabha.

The Opposition also submitted a notice to move a resolution to remove Birla as Speaker. Taking moral grounds, Birla decided not to chair House proceedings till the issue relating to his removal was settled.

The resolution seeking Birla’s removal as the Speaker is likely to come before the House in the second part of the session beginning March 9.

With Gandhi insisting on speaking before the House took up debate on the Union Budget, the House saw uproarious scenes leading to frequent adjournments. An anguished Birla had told the House that disruptions wasted 19 hours and 13 minutes of House time till last week.

Later, participating in the debate on the Union Budget, Gandhi accused the government of failing to protect India’s interest while signing an interim trade agreement with the United States.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman countered the allegations levelled by the LoP, saying it was the previous Congress government which sold the country at the World Trade Organization (WTO).

A Bill to amend the Industrial Relations Code to bring legal clarity was passed by Parliament in the first part of the session. The Bill would help avoid any “future unwarranted complication” over the continuity of certain laws replaced by the Industrial Relations Code of 2020. It is the first bill to be introduced and passed by Parliament in the Budget session.

Over 8,600 complaints against sitting judges since 2016: Lok Sabha informed

In a written reply on Friday, Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal said 8,639 complaints have been received against sitting judges between 2016 and 2025. The highest number of complaints (1,170) was received in 2024 by the office of the Chief Justice of India (CJI) against sitting judges.

He recalled that in May 1997, the Supreme Court adopted two resolutions — “The Restatement of Values of Judicial Life”, which lays down certain judicial standards and principles to be observed and followed by SC and HC judges; and “In-house Procedure”, which takes suitable remedial measure against judges who do not follow the universally accepted values of judicial life including those in the “Restatement of Values of Judicial Life.”

According to the established in-house procedure for the higher judiciary, the CJI is competent to receive complaints against SC judges and chief justices of the high courts.

The Budget session will conclude on April 2.

Lok Sabha proceedings adjourned till 12 noon 

On Friday, Lok Sabha proceedings were adjourned till 12 noon after Opposition members raised slogans demanding the resignation of Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri as well as protesting against the India-US interim trade agreement.

As soon as the House convened, Opposition members rushed to the well, holding placards, demanding the resignation of Puri after his name allegedly figured in the Epstein files released in the US.

Puri had on Wednesday, February 11, slammed Rahul Gandhi for “passing innuendo” against him, asserting that he had met convicted sex offender Jeffery Epstein on a “few occasions” but his interactions with him had nothing to do with the crimes the billionaire was involved in.

The House also observed a minute of silence to pay respect to former Haridwar MP Bhagwandas Rathore, who passed away recently.

BJP MPs raise undertrial voting, water, healthcare issues in RS

BJP members in Rajya Sabha on Friday raised a range of issues during Zero Hour, including voting rights for undertrials, inter-basin water transfer projects, high-speed rail connectivity in the Northeast and healthcare infrastructure gaps.

Karnataka MP Iranna Kadadi called for amending Article 62, Clause 5, of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, to grant voting rights to undertrials and those sentenced to less than seven years in prison.

He pointed out that over 4.9 lakh prisoners are currently lodged in Indian jails, of which more than 3.8 lakh are undertrials whose crimes have not yet been proven.

“Many times, poor and financially weak people are in jail due to not being able to pay the amount of bail, whereas a convicted person can vote,” Kadadi said, terming the situation contrary to Article 326 of the Constitution. Article 326 of the Indian Constitution mandates that elections to the Lok Sabha and Legislative Assemblies of States be based on adult suffrage.

Tripura’s Rajib Bhattacharjee urged the Union Railways Ministry to construct a high-speed train between Agartala and Guwahati, highlighting the state’s growing education and tourism sectors. He noted that Tripura now has three medical colleges, an ITI, a National Institute of Technology (NIT), a central university and a Forensic University.

Maharashtra’s Bhagwat Karad stressed the need to divert water flowing into the Arabian Sea – approximately 100 TMC annually – to the Godavari and Krishna basins to address Marathwada’s water crisis. He sought joint action by the Centre and state government on projects like the Damanganga-Pinjal link project and Par Godavari.

Uttar Pradesh MP Mithlesh Kumar raised concerns about Shahjahanpur’s district hospital, saying its existence has been “terminated” after a medical college outpatient department (OPD) was set up there. He requested the construction of OPD facilities at the medical college campus and the appointment of doctors and nurses.

K Laxman, also from UP, praised the Pradhan Mantri Vishwakarma scheme for crossing 30 lakh registrations by 2025, three years ahead of target. He said 54 per cent of beneficiaries belong to other backward classes (OBC) and 27 per cent to Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST) and minorities, and urged the government to launch a second phase.

J-K students denied admission despite university assurance: NC

National Conference member Sajjad Ahmad Kichloo raised concern over the plight of students from Jammu and Kashmir who have been left in limbo after a Rajasthan university allegedly failed to honour its admission commitments.

Raising the issue during Zero Hour, the MP from Jammu and Kashmir said several students from the region seeking admission to nursing courses at Mewar University in Rajasthan have been denied entry despite assurances from university authorities.

“There are many students from Jammu who applied to Mewar University, Rajasthan. Out of them, 82 applied for nursing courses. The university authority had promised that they would be given admission for BSc Nursing, but they have not been admitted yet,” Kichloo said.

He further alleged that when the students protested the denial, 33 of them were arrested. “If our students want to study, if they want to get an education, then what is happening? I demand that an inquiry be initiated and action taken against the authorities concerned,” he said.

Kichloo also flagged another case involving Shri Mata Vaishno Devi (SMVD) Medical College in Katra, where he claimed 50 students selected on merit have been affected after the college was shut down.

“The students were selected on merit and now the college is shut down. The future of those students is in danger. This is my request, they should get admission in other colleges,” the MP said, urging intervention to safeguard the students’ academic future.

Kharge’s request for restoration of expunged portions of his speech declined

Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, raised the issue of large portions of his speech during the debate on the motion of thanks to the President’s address being expunged and demanded that they be restored on Friday.

Raising the issue soon after the Zero Hour, Kharge urged the chair to reconsider his decision of expunging certain portions of his speech, saying otherwise he will release them to the public.

Chairman CP Radhakrishnan, however, said he cannot question the chair, and what he was saying was not correct, as whatever has been expunged from the records cannot be released outside.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also questioned Kharge, saying he cannot question the decision of the chair, as it does not behove of Kharge as the Leader of Opposition, to speak like this.

Rajya Sabha proceedings were later adjourned till March 9.