The Rajya Sabha on Monday returned the Finance Bill 2023 to the Lok Sabha by voice vote without discussion with the amendments brought by the government amid uproar by opposition members. With this, the process of budgeting for the next financial year was completed in the Upper House.
The meeting of the Upper House started at 2 pm after a one-time adjournment, then Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar said that the necessary documents which could not be laid on the floor of the House in the morning, should be considered as laid. Meanwhile, many members of the opposition parties, including the Congress, created ruckus demanding the setting up of a Joint Parliamentary Committee to investigate the allegations related to the Adani Group. Amidst the uproar, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary presented the general budget of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir for the financial year 2023-24, supplementary demands for grants and the related appropriation bill in the House.
The House returned the General Budget of Jammu and Kashmir, the Supplementary Demands for Grants and the Appropriation Bill relating thereto to the Lok Sabha by voice vote without discussion.
After this, with the permission of the Chairman, the Finance Bill 2023 was introduced in the House by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. During this, the ruckus of the opposition members was going on in the House. Amidst the uproar, the Finance Bill 2023 was returned to the Lok Sabha by voice vote without discussion.
With the return of the Finance Bill to the Lok Sabha, the process of budget for the financial year 2023-24 was completed in the House. Chairman Dhankhar termed as “unfortunate” the members did not utilize the 10 hours allotted for discussion on the Finance Bill in the House.
The budget process began with the presentation of the General Budget 2023-24 by Finance Minister Nirmal Sitharaman in the Lok Sabha on February 1. The bill was passed in the lower house on March 24.
