Lawyer Jaitley Bails out Modi from Embarrassment

KVP Ramachandra Rao’s Private Member Bill demanding Special Status to Andhra Pradesh came up in Rajya Sabha once again today. KVP Ramachandra Rao who already refused to withdraw the bill insisted on voting by the division on his bill. It was then, Finance Minister and Leader of the house in Rajya Sabha, Arun Jaitley intervened to save the face of the center.

[m9ad]

Arun Jaitley who is a Lawyer himself, read out several pages of rules saying that the Private Member Bill is a Money Bill and Rajya Sabha do not have right to handle such bills. Jaitley went on to say that all the clauses in KVP Ramachandra Rao’s Bill have money related issues and can not stand in Rajya Sabha.

He concluded the issue saying that Center is committed to helping Andhra Pradesh. Congress had deployed Kapil Sibal, another lawyer to counter the argument. But then Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman referred the issue to Lok Sabha Speaker for the final decision if it is a Money Bill or not. Since Lok Sabha Speaker is from BJP, guessing the fate of the bill is not difficult.