Draft report on Waqf Bill circulated among members, parliamentary panel to meet tomorrow

New Delhi [India], January 28 (ANI): The draft report on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024 has been sent to members of the Joint Parliamentary Committee ahead of the meeting of the panel on Wednesday, sources said with the panel having cleared amendments to 14 clauses.
While JPC Chairman Jagdambika Pal has said that the democratic process was followed in the deliberations, opposition members have said that very little time has been given to them to go through the large draft report and give their comments.
Jagdambika Pal, who is a BJP MP, said that there will be meeting tomorrow to adopt the draft report. He also rejected opposition's allegations.
"In yesterday's meeting, we had asked for proposals from the MPs on the 44 proposed amendments. Today, those including Kalyan Banerjee and A Raja who are levelling allegations that they were not allowed to speak are wrong. We had got voting done on all amendments proposed by the Opposition. The entire procedure transparently took place. We have sent the revised bill to the legislative department," he said.
"There will be a meeting to adopt the bill in Delhi tomorrow. The JPC report will also be adopted tomorrow. After this, we will request the Speaker to present the amended bill. Everything is on record. Kalyan Banerjee, A Raja, Owaisi, Sanjay Singh, Imran Masood have always disrupted the meetings. I have always given them a chance to speak and also do cross-examination of those appearing before the JPC," he added.
He said the panel has visited several states including Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana, Odisha, Assam, West Bengal, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
"We met all stakeholders, state government officials, work board, Shia Waqf board, Sunni Waqf board, minority commissions, Islamic scholars, professors, retired judges, lawyers, high courts, Supreme Court, we met with everyone," he said.
Pal referred to the role of majority vote in the decision-making process.
"Whether it is within the parliament, or whether it is a standing committee of the parliament, or whether it is a joint parliamentary committee, it will be decided from the vote of any party, on the basis of majority, whether the amendment is adopted or not," he said.
"It was done in a transparent and democratic way, and on all the clauses, whether it was on any member of the opposition, we have done voting on them, and the result that came out, we have declared it clause by clause every time, and our secretary has recorded," he added.
Sources said some of the amendments proposed by the panel include replacing district collector with a state government official senior to him to decide on a property being a Waqf or government land and the Waqf tribunal having a member with knowledge of Muslim law and jurisprudence.
The panel on Waqf bill was given extension in the winter session of Parliament and is due to submit its report in the budget session of Parliament.
Ahead of the meeting on Wednesday, DMK leader A Raja alleged that the Parliamentary Committee on Waqf Bill "has been reduced to a farce".
"We were told that the Draft Report of the Committee & its Bill will be discussed tomorrow at 10 AM. It is 655 pages and has been sent to us just now. MPs are expected to go through it and provide comments and submit dissent notes. This is simply not possible. What is the point of an independent parliamentary committee if the government does as it pleases anyway?" he asked.
The budget session of Parliament will begin on January 31 and will continue till continue till April 4 with an inter-session break. (ANI)