Coal news and updates

Modi government may opt to reissue coal ordinance

The government, its efforts at passing key bills frustrated by the Rajya Sabha impasse, is looking at taking the ordinance route for just the Coal Bill, while other major legislations such as the insurance Bill and Land Acquisition Bill may have to wait until the next Parliament session, a senior minister has told ET.

The standoff between the government and the opposition, which threatens to wash out the remaining Rajya Sabha sittings during the ongoing winter session, had triggered speculation that the Modi-led regime would look at the ordinance route after the end of the session next week to see key economic legislations such as Insurance Bill, Coal Bill, GST and changes in the Land Acquisition act through.

But political sources said barring the Coal legislation, all others were hostage to procedural and technical issues. In case of the Coal legislation, which has already been birthed using the ordinance route, the government only needs to repromulgate another ordinance if Rajya Sabha fails to pass the bill during this session. This will render it valid until next session.

However, the insurance and the land acquisition ones may not be as lucky. While the government will try to introduce and pass the insurance Bill through opposition barricades on Monday or Tuesday with the support of non-NDA parties such as BSP, AIADMK and BJD, the minister said using the ordinance route for this legislation was difficult because the legislation is technically the property of the Rajya Sabha.

Rules mandate that it can be passed or withdrawn only with majority support of the House. The BJP-led NDA does not have a majority in the Rajya Sabha. "As per the rules, a Bill, which is already the property of a House can't be pushed through an ordinance," one senior Parliamentarian said, adding that it was extremely difficult "unless the government wants to do something extraordinarily controversial and risking a legal challenge in the court".

However, some senior ministers said the government was nevertheless exploring the ordinance option for the insurance legislation, which principally seeks to increase the FDI limit in the sector to 49% and has already been vetted by a select committee of Parliament.

Similarly, the Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill, keenly sought by industry which views the present act as too draconian, also offers no easy way out. "Since the Land Acquisition Bill was passedby Parliament, amendments to that Act has to be cleared by Parliament again and an ordinance route cannot be taken," said the source.

Source: The Economic Times