Being a professional who works on legislation day in and day out, I depend on set rules and procedures to make sense of what happens in Parliament. Last week, that didn’t help. I sat helpless and confused and in a state of panic as a million rules were bypassed in Lok Sabha and a bill which amends the Income Tax Act was pushed through without the slightest regard for proper procedure.

Last Week in Parliament, we saw a glimpse of our dying democracy.

The Bill that wasn’t

For the past three weeks, both the houses of Parliament were getting adjourned due to the demonetisation issue. It became evident that both sides wanted a debate but, in Lok Sabha, the argument was over which rule to use to have that discussion. The deadlock continued last week but there was a window on Tuesday when — while the house was going bonkers — the Taxation Laws (Second Amendment) Bill was passed in a din.

On Monday afternoon, the List of Business was curiously changed and a second supplementary list (S2LOB) was added without warning.

The bill was introduced on the same day amidst absolute chaos. It literally whizzed past.

This is still partially acceptable if sufficient time is given for the consideration and passing of the Bill. Members need time to go through and understand the legislation, which has been brought into the house. This particular one involved cross referencing sections from the oh-so-complicated Income Tax Act, then figuring out what changes are being made and the implications of the same. Additionally, there needs to be some time given to figure out and propose amendments to the proposed legislation.

Well, the next day, the government was like…

Ain’t nobody got time for that

Due to demonetisation, the government seem to be in a tearing hurry to prevent any possible disaster. Or put a stop to the endless goof-ups that have already been committed.

So, on Tuesday, the government went…

The Taxation Laws Bill was brought in flurry at 2.30 pm. This is while there were protests happening from the opposition side. Some members of Parliament pointed out that no time was given for filing amendments or getting the President’s approval for them. Plus, no time to even understand the bill.

Professor Saugata Roy of the Trinamool Congress pointed out that the stealthy introduction on Monday amidst din did not let members oppose the sudden move. It was not a part of the list of business either.

It *appeared* that the Speaker was not letting members talk about the bill.

Despite the paucity of time, some enterprising MPs had submitted amendments. They were promptly put aside and discussion about them was not allowed either.

Out of frustration, one member got up to question the attitude of the chair.

Good sir Mohammad Salim was promptly shot down. Some muscle flexing happened.

You would expect the speaker to give some reasonable explanation for why she is being so bulldozey. Well…

She said there was some mysterious “urgency”.

And just like that, the bill was put up for voting.

WITHOUT any discussion.

After passing the bill, the Lok Sabha was promptly adjourned.

Zero bothers were given.

Good game.

Why is it important to discuss this bill?

Some might argue, “Oh but the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has majority in Lok Sabha, they would have passed it anyway! What’s the point of discussing it? Besides, the Opposition was making so much noise that having a discussion would be impossible! Are you suggesting that no work happens at all?”

I feel, ya. I really do.

But it’s *still* very important to give MPs a chance to talk about the reason. For the simple reason that they will point out the flaws and put it on record, they will let you the voter know that there are certain sections in the bill which are strange and need further thought. Since the bill was passed without discussion, a whole load of things which should have been questioned, simply weren’t.

Allow me to put forward a few that I observed. These are some points I am raising just for you to think about, since nothing can be done about it now.

Taxation Laws (Second Amendment) Bill, 2016

(If you want a complete brief about what the bill does, you can read one by PRS Legislative Research here. You can take a look at the complete bill text here.)

The bill establishes a new scheme called Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY). You must have heard about it by now since news outlets have been reporting on it. In the bill, however, there is a curious addition to the name of this scheme:

It *is* a deposit scheme but why isn’t it being called that by the mainstream media is anyone’s guess. It should be PMGKDS. Not PMGKY.

Twenty-five per cent of declared undisclosed income is to be deposited in this scheme, interest free for four years without the provision of withdrawal. But this bill is utterly unclear and silent about where this deposit will be kept. Will it be kept with the bank where the money will be deposited? (In which case, the banks are going to have a really good time.) Or will it be a separate deposit created by the Reserve Bank of India? Or will it be kept with the Government for further use?

As the scheme name suggests, the cess collected under this scheme (33 per cent of undisclosed income) is going to be used for “garib kalyan”.

Now let’s take a look at the statement by the minister and what it says.

That ‘etc.’ You’ve got to wonder just what comes under it.

The vague terms used in the bill suggest that literally any spending from the cess and the deposit can now be justified as Garib Kalyan. This simply seems to be a publicly-funded baap of all schemes, which will be completely under Executive control. The babus shall rule.

If you have been reading about how this is another ‘amnesty scheme’ for tax evaders, let me tell you, it really is not. The person putting in the undisclosed amount can still be prosecuted under a bunch of tax evasion, benami property and financial fraud laws.

The final observation is about how the bill differentiates between “Undisclosed” income and “Unexplained” income. Both of these will be taxed and penalized at different rates.

To put it simply, a person in the Income Tax department will now have total discretion to decide whether the undisclosed amount is also unexplained, then go on to charge higher tax on it.

This bill was brought in with the primary intention of punishing those with black money. It has been a follow-up of the Great Indian Demonetisation. So one might think that this only applies to the excess cash being deposited in the banks?

Not so.

Since this is an amendment to the Income Tax Act, it will be applicable to any undisclosed income discovered during a ‘search’ that has been started before this bill was passed since the July 2012.

Why are you pointing these things out?

This Bill was brought in to punish those who have undisclosed income and have been evading paying taxes. This noble intention needs to respected and even appreciated. However, it’s important to point out that the person deciding how this law applies would be a bureaucrat from the Income Tax Department. My fear is that the provisions of this law might be used as a harassment tool by some corrupt officers, since the penalties are so darn heavy.

There is also the fact that by giving the IT officer power to decide whether the income is undisclosed or unexplained, and letting him/her charge higher penalty on the latter (a 30 per cent difference), what is to say that the chor person wouldn’t just bribe the officer and not pay the higher penalty?

Bribing comes to Indians as naturally as nodding our heads while talking.

I am asking questions because these are the things which could have been raised by MPs who study legislations and put forward their queries. The Finance Minister would have to reply to their queries and clarify why these provisions have been put in the way they are.

As of now, we have no justification, no clarifications and no way to object if these loopholes lead to damaging results in the future.

Oh and guess what? Since this is a Bill related to matters of Taxation, it will be certified as a Money Bill. So it won’t even go to the Rajya Sabha for consideration. After the President assents to this, it will become law.

This is not the first time a bill has been pushed like this in Parliament. The present government has done it a few times already (Aadhaar Bill, Amendment to Lokpal Bill) and the previous government did it too multiple times (Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Bill). None of those attempts can be justified, no matter which party did it, and are equally deplorable.

THIS. NEEDS. TO. STOP.

I leave you with a song that probably describes the actions of this government quite nicely.

The author can be contacted on Twitter @Memeghnad