ACTIVISTS WANT VP TO OPPOSE AADHAAR ‘PUSH’
NEWDELHI: Top activists and academics have come out against the controversial draft law expanding the use of Aadhaar and written to Rajya Sabha chairman Hamid Ansari to rule that the government was wrong in bypassing the Upper House.
They also said they would challenge in court the classification of the finance bill — which made Aadhaar mandatory for PAN cards and income tax returns — as a money bill, which doesn’t need to pass in the Rajya Sabha where the government is in a minority. “If it goes unchallenged then it sets a very wrong precedent that governments can get any legislation passed by making them money bills. This disrupts constitutional functioning,” said Gopal Krishna from the Citizens Forum for Civil Liberties, a co-signatory to the letter.
He said at least two organisations would approach the judiciary soon. Prominent activists who signed the letter include Aruna Roy and Nikhil Dey of Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan, and economist Jayati Ghosh and Prabhat Patnaik.
They say that the finance bill contains provisions that have wide-reaching impact and need to be independently debated.
“We are appalled and dismayed at the government’s use of money bills to push through important legislation that affects all citizens, without requiring approval by both houses of Parliament,” the letter read.
The activists asked Ansari to allow extensive and uninterrupted discussions into every aspect of the bill in the Upper House and ensure the practice of “illegitimately classifying” bills as money bills is immediately stopped.
THEY ALSO SAID THEY WOULD CHALLENGE THE CLASSIFICATION OF THE FINANCE BILL AS A MONEY BILL, WHICH DOESN’T NEED TO PASS IN THE UPPER HOUSE