PM Modi meets Speaker Birla, Rajnath after Lok Sabha adjourned sine die

New Delhi [India], December 21 (ANI): After Lok Sabha was adjourned sine die a day before the conclusion of the Winter session, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi and leaders of some opposition parties were also present in the meeting.

From the opposition, BJD’s Bharatari Mehtab and two BSP MPs, one of whom was Girish Chandra.

Lok Sabha was adjourned sine die on Thursday, a day ahead of the scheduled close of the winter session of Parliament after the House passed some key bills, including that related to the appointment of CEC and election commissioners and a bill to replace Press and Registration of Books Act, 1867.

The Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Bill, 2023 and the Press and Registration of Periodicals Bill, 2023 were passed on Thursday.

Speaker Om Birla adjourned the House sine die after Press and Registration of Periodicals Bill was passed.

The House on Wednesday passed three momentous bills to replace the IPC, CrPC, Evidence Act.

The winter session of Parliament, which commenced on December 4, saw a breach of security incident on December 13 when two men jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber from the visitor’s gallery. They were carrying smoke canisters and were later apprehended. Members cutting across party lines expressed their concern and a high-level probe is being done into the incident.

The session also saw the suspension of 100 opposition MPs, most of them for the remainder of the winter session, for “misconduct”. The privileges committee has also been asked to look into the “gross misconduct” of some members.

The opposition members had been demanding a statement from Home Minister Amit Shah over the security breach incident.

The Speaker later wrote a letter to MPs noting that suspension was not linked to demands concerning the security breach incident but to bringing placards and “creating a ruckus”.

Lok Sabha on Wednesday passed Bharatiya Nyaya (Second) Sanhita, 2023, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha (Second) Sanhita, 2023 and the Bharatiya Sakshya (Second) Bill, 2023

These will replace the Indian Penal Code (IPC) of 1860, the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and the Indian Evidence Act of 1872.

Amit Shah said in his reply to the debate on the three bills in Lok Sabha that for the first time, changes have been made in the three laws governing the nearly 150-year-old criminal justice system.

The winter session of Parliament was to conclude on December 22. (ANI)