Chidambaram In Parliamentary Standing Committee On Home As Dhankhar Re-Constitutes 8 Panels

Chidabaram’s appointment comes following the retirement of Congress leader P Bhattacharya, after which the position was left vacant.

Senior Congress leader and former home minister P Chidambaram has been added to the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee (DRSC) on Home Affairs at a time when the panel is discussing three proposed bills that are aimed at replacing the criminal justice laws – Indian Penal Code (IPC) 1860, Indian Evidence Act, 1872, and the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), 1973 as Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Sakshya and Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita respectively. The bills were introduced by Amit Shah on August 11, reported ANI. Chidambaram has replaced party colleague from Bengal, Pradeep Bhattacharjee, whose Rajya Sabha term ended recently.

The senior Rajya Sabha MP P Chidambaram has been appointed to the 31-member Home panel by Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankar re-constituted eight DRCSs, the Upper House said on Tuesday. 

According to ANI, there are 24 department-related standing committees (DRSCs). Each of these committees has 31 members – 21 from Lok Sabha and 10 from Rajya Sabha.

Chidabaram’s appointment comes following the retirement of Congress leader P Bhattacharya, after which the position was left vacant. Party's Lok Sabha MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury is already a member of the Home panel, headed by BJP MP Brij Lal.

On Monday, a notification was issued which read, “The Chairman, Rajya Sabha, has in consultation with the Speaker, Lok Sabha, re-constituted the eight Department–related Parliamentary Standing Committees, coming under the administrative jurisdiction of the Chairman, Rajya Sabha, w.e.f. September 13, 2023, as follows”, reported ANI.

Meanwhile, Congress MP Jairam Ramesh has been appointed as the chairman of the Committee on Science and Technology, Environment, Forests and Climate Change.

According to ANI, chairs of six major parliamentary committees — Home, IT, Defence, External Affairs, Finance and Health — are all with the BJP or its allies.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah had stated that the three pieces of legislation submitted in Parliament by the Centre to reform the IPC, CrPC, and Evidence Act will ensure that no case may last more than two years, resulting in the removal of “70% negative energy” while chairing the 26th Western Zonal Council meeting. 

"After the passage of the three new Bills - Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita Bill 2023, Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita Bill 2023 and Bharatiya Sakshya Bill 2023 - recently introduced by the Modi government in Parliament, no case can continue for more than two years, which will result in the elimination of 70 per cent negative energy," Shah was quoted by PTI.