New Delhi: Government's attempt to pass the Companies (Amendment) Bill, 2014 in Rajya Sabha today was scuttled after opposition members from various parties pressed for putting it off for Wednesday.
Soon after Finance Minister Arun Jaitley moved the bill in the Upper House for consideration, Naresh Agarwal (SP) opposed discussing it, citing the absence of 50 percent of members in the House as Congress members had staged a walkout over the issue of Minister Nitin Gadkari in connection with a CAG report.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu said nobody forced Congress members to walk out and appreciated Gadkari for replying to all questions.
"Nobody forced... (They have) every right to walk out. Everyone was given an opportunity to ask questions," he said while appreciating his Cabinet colleague for responding to queries raised by the opposition members.
Pushing for passage of the bill today itself, Jaitley said it has to be returned to Lok Sabha tomorrow, which happens to the last day of the session.
Leader of Opposition Gulam Nabi Azad, who entered the House at that time, suggested that the bill could be taken up for discussions tomorrow morning at 11.00 AM when the House meets for the day.
Deputy Chairman Kurien said the two bills such as Companies (Amendment) Bill,2014 and Blackmoney Bill will be discussed tomorrow.
In his brief introduction, Jaitley said as amendments are a continuous process, a committee would be set up to look into issues and concerns of the companies.
He said the amendments were necessary as some oringinal provisions were posing hurdles to doing business.
