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Committee to Examine Income Tax Bill
Context:
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has formed a 31-member select committee to review the newly introduced Income Tax Bill.
More on News
- The committee will be chaired by BJP leader Baijayant Panda and is required to submit its report by the first day of the next parliamentary session.
- The much-anticipated bill seeks to repeal outdated provisions of the existing Income Tax Act while introducing several key updates.
About Select Committee
A Select Committee is an ad hoc or temporary committee established to examine and scrutinise particular Bills. These committees consist of MPs from one House of Parliament and are dissolved once their designated task is complete.
Key aspects of Select Committees:
- Purpose: Select Committees are formed for a specific purpose, such as examining a particular Bill.
- Membership: Membership is limited to MPs from one House.
- The members are specifically named in the motion that calls for the Bill to be referred to the Committee, and are appointed by the House.
- The actual number of members can vary.
- Formation: The formation of a Select Committee can be initiated through a motion proposed by the Minister in-charge of the Bill or any member of Parliament.
- Procedure: The procedure followed by the Select Committee is laid down in the Rules of Procedure.
- Under Rule 125 of the Rajya Sabha, any member may move an amendment that a Bill be referred to a Select Committee.
- Quorum: The quorum to conduct business is one-third of the total number of members.
- Functions: The primary duty of a Select Committee is to meticulously review the Bill, examining its clauses to ensure they accurately reflect the intended purpose and objectives of the measure.
- The Committee can gather information through memoranda from experts, oral evidence, and government officials.
- The reports of the Select Committee are recommendatory in nature, and the government can choose to accept or reject the committee’s recommendations.
- Reports: The committee’s report, including any dissenting opinions, is presented to the House.
- Joint Parliamentary Committees (JPC): When committees are constituted for a specific purpose with MPs from both Houses, they are called Joint Parliamentary Committees (JPC).
