Parliament was disrupted for the third consecutive day on Wednesday

NEW DELHI: Parliament was disrupted for the third consecutive day on Wednesday over the Delhi riots even as Lok Sabha passed a bill providing an opportunity to taxpayers to settle disputes by paying just the overdue taxes with complete waiver of interest and penalty by March 31.

The Direct Tax Vivaad Se Vishwas Bill, 2020, was passed amid din without any discussion as the opposition continued to protest while demanding an immediate discussion on the Delhi riots. Rajya Sabha too witnessed similar protests, forcing Chairman Venkaiah Naidu to adjourn the House for the day within 10 minutes of it opening at 11 am.

In Lok Sabha, it was necessary to pass the bill at the earliest as the last date to avail waiver of interest and penalty under it is March 31.

As many as 4.83 lakh direct tax cases involving Rs 9.32 lakh crore are pending in various appellate forums such as commissioner (appeals), ITAT, high courts, Supreme Court and Debt Recovery Tribunals.

Under the proposed scheme, taxpayers willing to settle disputes will be allowed a complete waiver of interest and penalty if they pay the entire amount of tax in dispute by March 31, following which an additional 10% disputed tax will have to be paid over and above the tax liability. The scheme will remain open till June 30. The scheme can be availed once the bill is passed by Parliament.

Lok Sabha started without Speaker Om Birla in the chair and continued through two adjournments before the final one for the day came minutes after it reopened at 2 pm. At 11 am, the House opened with Kirit Solanki in the chair. Birla stayed out all day.

With opposition parties demanding a discussion on the Delhi violence, parliamentary affairs minister Pralhad Joshi said it could be taken up on March 11 in Lok Sabha and on March 12 in Rajya Sabha. But the opposition continued with its demand and kept storming into the well chanting slogans like ‘Modi sarkar shame shame’, ‘Pradhan mantri jawab do’.

The Indian Institute of Information Technology (Amendment) Bill, 2020, was also introduced in Lok Sabha. It seeks to confer the status of institution of national importance on five IIITs — set up on public-private partnership mode in Surat, Bhopal, Bhagalpur , Agartala and Raichur.

