Rijiju Defends Income Tax Bill Withdrawal

• Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju defended the government’s withdrawal of the new Income Tax Bill, calling it a “normal procedure” for incorporating a large number of amendments.
• The Bill was withdrawn to integrate around 285 suggestions from a Select Committee and will be re-tabled by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday.
• Rijiju stated that this process is more efficient than moving individual amendments for a large number of changes.

GG News Bureau
New Delhi, 9th Aug: Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju today addressed criticism over the government’s decision to withdraw the new Income Tax Bill from the Lok Sabha on Friday. Rijiju clarified that the move was a standard parliamentary procedure and not a sign of the government abandoning its key tax reform.

The Bill, which was introduced to replace the Income Tax Act, 1961, was formally withdrawn to incorporate around 285 suggestions made by a Select Committee. According to Rijiju, this process is essential when a high number of amendments are accepted by the government, as it avoids the time-consuming procedure of moving multiple motions on the floor of the House.

“It is a normal convention that when a Select Committee submits a report and there are several amendments which are suggested and accepted by the government, the earlier bill is withdrawn and a new bill with all the amendments as accepted is introduced,” Rijiju said. He added that this makes it easier for Parliament to consider and pass the legislation.

Rijiju also sought to allay concerns, especially on social media, that the new Bill would be completely different from the original draft. “All the hard work done in the last six months will not go to waste. On the contrary, the hard work done by each one and the suggestions will get reflected in the new Income Tax Bill,” he stated.