Parliament proceedings live | RTI Amendment Bill to be introduced in Lok Sabha today

Parliament LATEST updates: Amid objections from several Opposition MPs — Congress, AIMIM, TMC — the Lower House on Friday passed the Right to Information (Amendment) Bil, 2019. The bill was supported by 224 MPs, while nine MPs objected the bill.

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor called the Amendment bill the "RTI elmination bill". He said that the amendment would take the power away from the Information Commission. AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi said that the amendment bill lacks "legislative competence" because a clause in the amendment takes away the powers of the state.

However, Speaker Om Birla cut off Tharoor, Owaisi, and TMC MP Sougata Roy and asked the Jitendra Singh, Minister of State for Public Grievances and Pensions to counter the arguments. "Let us allow the bill to be introduced and then debate," he said, while countering the Opposition MPs' objections.