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Parliament’s Monsoon Session adjourned sine die

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Parliament’s Monsoon Session adjourned sine die

New Delhi, Aug 13: The Monsoon Session of Parliament which commenced on July 20 was adjourned sine die on Thursday. The session provided 19 sittings spread over a period of 25 days. During the session, 11 Bills were introduced in Lok Sabha and two Bills were introduced in Rajya Sabha.

Twelve Bills were passed by Lok Sabha and 12 Bills were passed by Rajya Sabha. The total number of Bills passed by both Houses of Parliament during the session was 12.

Two Bills replacing and encompassing the provisions of the Ordinances, The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Ordinance, 2026, and the Income-Tax (Amendment) Ordinance, 2026, which were promulgated by the President before Monsoon Session, were considered and passed by both the Houses.

Demands for Excess Grants for the year 2022-23 were taken up and the related Appropriation Bill was introduced, considered and passed by Lok Sabha on August 4 and returned by the Rajya Sabha on August 6.

The Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026, was referred to the Joint Committee of the Houses for examination and report.

In order to address, with immediacy, the concerns of students relating to public examinations, the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026, was introduced to amend the parent act of 2024 as a major initiative to strengthen the integrity and credibility of the public examination system.

The Bill seeks to ensure speedy investigation and time-bound trial of offences under the Act; empower state governments and union territory administrations to designate Special Fast Track Courts and appoint Special Public Prosecutors; mandate completion of investigations within two months and trials within three months; enable the Central Government to constitute Special Task Forces for investigation, wherever necessary; enhance penalties for offences; and provide for a time-bound appellatemechanism before a Division Bench of the High Court. The bill was passed by both Houses of Parliament and has been assented to by the President.

Some other major Bills passed by both Houses during the Session are as under:

The Prevention of Insults to National Honour (Amendment) Bill, 2026, seeks to amend the Act of 1971 to bring VandeMataram, honoured as the National Song, within the ambit of Section 3 of The Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971 and proposes to make it an offence to intentionally prevent the singing of VandeMataram or cause disturbance to any assembly engaged in its singing, thereby extending legal protection to the National Song and making such acts punishable under the act.

The Registration of Births and Deaths (Amendment) Bill, 2026 seeks to amend the parent Act of 1969 to make provisions for delayed registration of births and deaths more stringent by prescribing a streamlined verification mechanism.

The Bill provides for registration after one year and up to two years only with the approval of the competent Executive Magistrate, and after two years only with the approval of a Judicial Magistrate of the First Class.

The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development (Amendment) Bill, 2026, seeks to amend the Act of 2006 to provide for a national digital platform for free and voluntary registration of MSMEs and strengthen the MSME sector by improving access to finance, ensuring faster adjudication of delayed payment disputes of micro and small enterprises, promoting ease of doing business, and decriminalising offences regarding contravention of certain provisions, replacing conviction-based fines with graded penalties by including warning at the first instance.

The Bankers’ Books Evidence Bill, 2026, seeks to expand the scope of the definition of “bankers’ books” to include all forms of records maintained by banks, whether in physical, electronic, digital, virtual, cloud-based or in any other form, thereby providing a comprehensive, technology-neutral and future-ready legal framework.

It standardises certificates and recognises manual, digital and electronic authentication, while enabling electronic records to be produced physically or electronically.

It further empowers the central government to extend coverage across the financial sector and defines “special cause” for judicial production.

The Kerala (Alteration of Name) Bill, 2026, seeks to amend the First Schedule to the Constitution by altering the name of State of “Kerala” as “Keralam” in accordance with article 3 of the Constitution.

The National Co-operative Development Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2026, seeks to amend the National Co-operative Development Corporation Act, 1962, to expand the definition of “foodstuffs” to include any other food items as may be notified by the central government, remove the geographical restriction applicable to industrial goods, strengthen the cooperative sector by updating statutory references, removing obsolete provisions, and empowering the corporation with necessary incidental powers.

These measures will facilitate the collection and sharing of credit and other relevant information with authorised institutions, while providing greater flexibility, legal clarity, and operational efficiency and enable timely, direct and responsive financial assistance for co-operative development.

The Tribunals Reforms Bill, 2026, seeks to improve the efficiency, ensure independence, transparency, and uniformity in the qualifications, appointment, terms and conditions of service of chairpersons and members of various tribunals, the administration and functioning of the tribunals, to establish a National Tribunals Commission and to make consequential amendments in related enactments and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.

The Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026 seeks to amend the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957, to provide certainty, stability and predictability in the fiscal regime in the mineral sector, thereby giving impetus to national economic growth which would facilitate the aims of Atmanirbhar Bharat and ultimately attaining the vision of Viksit Bharat 2047.

The productivity of Lok Sabha was approximately 19 percent and that of Rajya Sabha was approximately 39 percent.

Greater Kashmir