New Delhi:
As it struggles to push its land reforms past an aggressive opposition, the Modi government has firmed up a strategy that will turn the rival parties into bystanders when it brings another key legislation, the Black Money bill, for Parliament's approval.
The Lok Sabha Speaker has notified the Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets (Imposition of Tax) Bill as a Money Bill. This means that after the Lok Sabha has approved the bill, the Rajya Sabha or upper house, where the government is in a minority, has to act on it within 14 days of receiving it, or it will be deemed to have been passed by that House.
If the Rajya Sabha makes changes or rejects a Money Bill, the Lok Sabha has the power to accept or not accept the recommendations and it will be considered passed.
The Modi government enjoys a majority in the Lok Sabha and can ensure the passage in that house of the most contentious bills. In the Rajya Sabha, however, it is the Congress-led opposition that has the numbers. Last month, it blocked the land acquisition bill, passed by the Lok Sabha, in the upper house, forcing the government to issue a fresh ordinance or emergency executive order and make another effort to get the bill, which makes it easier to acquire land for industrial and key infrastructural projects, approved by Parliament.
Like the land bill, the opposition wants the Black Money bill to be sent to a Parliamentary committee for review. They say they fear possible misuse of the proposed new law, particularly provisions in the Bill on penalty and have opposed the government's plan to rush it through with the finance bill, which will be passed in the ongoing budget session of Parliament.
The bill proposes stringent penalties and wide ranging powers against concealment of income, ranging from 10 years rigorous imprisonment for black money stashed abroad and a provision which would allow the tax department to reopen books of 16 years ago to unearth evasion, if any.