• Stepping up its attack on the Narendra Modi government over Hindenburg Research’s allegations against SEBI chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch, the Congress threatened to launch a nationwide protest if its demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the matter is not accepted. 

• Hindenburg Research, an investment research firm that uses activist short-selling to expose corporate fraud and malfeasance, alleged that SEBI chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband had undisclosed investments in obscure offshore funds in Bermuda and Mauritius, the same entities allegedly used by Vinod Adani — the elder brother of group chairman Gautam Adani — to round-trip funds and inflate stock prices.

Importance of Parliamentary Committees

• Parliamentary committees are of two types: Standing and Ad-hoc committees. While the former perform specialised jobs, the latter are constituted to perform specific tasks and cease to exist on its completion.

• Parliamentary committees investigate issues and bills proposed so that the Parliament can be well informed before making a decision of national importance.

• It increases the ability of Parliament to scrutinise government policies and make it accountable.

• The committees can make recommendations and amendments to the Bill. These are not binding on the Parliament.

• In the past, we have seen that scrutiny by committees has helped resolve significant issues in Bills. For instance, the Prevention of Corruption Amendment Bill was pending in the Rajya Sabha since 2013. The Bill has been examined by two parliamentary committees and has gone through a number of iterations. This has resulted in significant issues in the Bill getting addressed.

Joint Parliamentary Committee

• A Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) is an ad-hoc body.

• It is set up for a specific object and duration. 

• Joint committees are set up by a motion passed in one house of Parliament and agreed to by the other. 

• The details regarding membership and subjects are also decided by Parliament. 

• For example, the motion to constitute a JPC on the stock market scam (2001) and pesticide residues in soft drinks (2003) was moved by the government in the Lok Sabha.

• The motion on the stock market scam constituted a JPC of 30 members of which 20 were from the Lok Sabha and 10 were from the Rajya Sabha. 

• The motion to constitute the JPC on pesticides included 10 members from the Lok Sabha and 5 from the Rajya Sabha. 

• The terms of reference for the JPC on the stock market scam asked the committee to look into financial irregularities, to fix responsibility on persons and institutions for the scam, to identify regulatory loopholes and also to make suitable recommendations.

Constitutional Provisions: 

• Parliamentary committees draw their authority from Article 105 (on privileges of Parliament members) and Article 118 (on Parliament’s authority to make rules for regulating its procedure and conduct of business).

(The author is a trainer for Civil Services aspirants.)