Bill to amend Arms Act clears RS test
NEW DELHI: The Parliament on Tuesday passed the Bill which seeks to increase punishment for illegally making or selling prohibited arms and ammunition in the country.
The Rajya Sabha passed the Arms (Amendment) Bill, 2019, a day after it was cleared by the Lok Sabha following a reply by Home Minister Amit Shah.
The proceedings in the Rajya Sabha has been adjourned till 11 am on Tuesday.
The Bill provides for a prison sentence of seven years to life imprisonment for manufacturing and selling illegal weapons, seven to 14 years of jail for possessing illegal weapons and life imprisonment for snatching the weapon of police personnel.
The Bill seeks to amend Arms Act, 1959, “to effectively curb crimes committed by using illegal firearms.”
Moving the legislation in the Upper House, Union minister of state for home G Kishan Reddy said effective control over arms and ammunition is very important for safety and security in the country.
“It is for national security that we have brought in this legislation. Illegal manufacturing of arms is going on in some places like small scale industry. We are proposing stringent punishments for people involved in such acts,” Reddy said.
Husain Dalwai (Congress), Subhasish Chakraborthy (AITC), N Chandrasekaran (AIADMK), Sukhram Singh Yadav (SP) and Prasanna Acharya participated in the debate.
BILL ON SC/ST QUOTA EXTENSION GETS LS NOD Lok Sabha on Tuesday passed a Constitution amendment bill to extend reservation to SCS and STS in Lok Sabha and state assemblies by another ten years, withlaw minister Ravi Shankar Prasad asserting that the quota in legislatures was required to build a new political leadership of the two communities.
The bill was passed with 352 members voting in favour and none against it.
The reservation for SCS, STS and Anglo-indians given for the past 70 years in Lok Sabha and state assemblies was due to end on January 25, 2020.
The reservation for Anglo-indians in the form of “nomination” is set to expire on January 25 next year as the Bill does not extend the facility to the community.