The central government is gearing up for the upcoming Monsoon Session of the Parliament which is all set to commence on July 20 and will conclude on August 11.

According to a bulletin issued by the Lok Sabha Secretariat stating the legislative business, the Centre will table 21 new Bills along with Bills which have already been introduced in the Lower House and referred to joint committees and their reports presented.

The Bills that have already been scrutinised by various parliamentary committees and have been listed for passage are: The Biological Diversity (Amendment) Bill, 2022; The Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2023; The Multi-State Cooperative Societies (Amendment) Bill, 2022, The Forest (Conservation) Amendment Bill, 2023; and The Mediation Bill, 2021.

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The new Bills include the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2023, which seeks to replace the contentious Delhi Ordinance over the control of services in the national capital. The purpose of the Bill has been described in the legislative business list as: “The conclusions drawn in Constitution Bench pronouncement poses certain challenges to the smooth administration of GNCTD which need to be addressed through appropriate legal interventions.”

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has challenged the ordinance in the Supreme Court and said that it allows the Lieutenant Governor to override the elected government. The party is looking at the Rajya Sabha to block the Bill where the BJP-led NDA does not have majority on its own. With 31 members in the Rajya Sabha, defeating the Bill may not be possible without the Congress.

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The other new Bill that has been listed in the legislative business and is facing criticism is The Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, 2023. “The Bill aims to establish the comprehensive legal framework governing digital personal data protection in India,” as decribed by the tentative list.

Also listed for consideration and passage during the session were the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill and the Multi-State Cooperative Societies (Amendment) Bill, among others.

While the government has laid out its tentative legislative business agenda for the monsoon session, whether it will be able to pass and consider all these Bills remains a concern as the session is only 17 days long.

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The Budget Session held between January 31 and April 6 was a washout, with a logjam between the Treasury Benches demanding an apology from now disqualified Congress MP Rahul Gandhi over his speech in London in which he spoke about the state of Indian democracy.

Opposition MPs on the other hand demanded a discussion and a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe on the allegations of stock manipulation by the Adani group made in a report by Hindenburg Research.