Bankruptcy law to be introduced in Parliament this Winter Session: Govt

Government on Tuesday said the Bankruptcy law will be introduced in Parliament this Winter Session, while the passage of the GST Bill will remain on the top of agenda, Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha said.

“Our plan is to introduce the Bankruptcy law in the Winter Session but as you know our number one priority continues to be the GST. But right after the GST, the next in line is the Bankruptcy law,” Sinha said.

It can be noted that due to string of corruption allegations against Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj and Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh chief ministers, the opposition did not allow Parliament to function during the Monsoon Session and the entire session was a washout.

The Congress, which is the main opposition and which had drafted the key GST Bill, is also against the NDA version of the bill saying many key provisions of the original bill have been altered. Since the government does not have majority in the Rajya Sabha, it needs to get the opposition on its side to pass the GST Bill that involves amending the Constitution.

On this, Sinha said the government is already in talks with the Opposition as Parliament session is round the corner.

“We are always in discussions with all parties to ensure that Parliament functions smoothly and that important legislations such as the GST and Bankruptcy laws are passed,” the Minister added.

Describing the Rs 6,100-crore Bank of Baroda scam as a one of the events, he said the scam originated misusing the circular trading mechanism to take advantage of duty drawbacks.

“Compliance in all of our banks is excellent and we are obviously tightening that further. State Bank of India is going to be providing a very high quality set of benchmarks for all banks. Of course, the RBI has stepped up its vigilance, so has the financial intelligence unit,” he said.