House set to clear changes in enemy property bill, CrPC

NEW DELHI: With the government having struck fruitful deals with BJP over important legislation, the monsoon session of Parliament is drawing to a close with the treasury benches looking to pass the enemy property act amendment, the prevention of torture bill and certain changes in the criminal code relating to filing of FIRs.
The civil liability for nuclear damage bill - clearly the highest priority for the Manmohan Singh government - is set to go through the Rajya Sabha on Monday on the back of BJP support.It has been passed by the Lok Sabha and its passage will yield a collective sigh of relief in government and Congress as well.
Demands have been raised for referring the bill on torture to a select committee but having got it through Rajya Sabha, the government is not likely to accept the view that it be sent to a parliamentary panel. Government sources said some amendments could be discussed and accepted but the bill needed to be passed in keeping with a 1975 UN convention against torture.
The changes in the CrPC deal with the police having to put forward reasons for not registering FIRs, a common occurrence in most states. While police officials argue that automatic registration of all complaints would be problematic as it is important to sift out false or motivated complaints, non-registration of FIRs is a bane too. The amendment calls on police to provide a reason for not doing so.
The contentious enemy property amendments will also go through despite the BJP’s opposition but with significant changes that limit the right of heirs like the Raja of Mehmoodabad to assets said to be worth thousands of crores. The bill has been listed in Lok Sabha for the past week and will be accorded priority for passage through Rajya Sabha as well.
The enemy property amendments need to be ratified by Parliament as the ordinance that had undone a Supreme Court judgment granting ownership to the Raja of estates that his father had abandoned while leaving for Pakistan is due to lapse. With some Muslim MPs lobbying for the rights of heirs like the Raja, the government has modified the amendment to allow them legal possession.
But then, it again modified the bill adding crucial provisions for tenants and lease holders to press their rights in courts.
There are some short duration discussions which are pending with the one on Jammu & Kashmir in LS awaiting a reply by home minister P Chidambaram. With eight speakers yet to offer their views, the discussion may take some time to wind up.