Joint Session of Parliament not ruled out post-Budget session

New Delhi, Feb 24: With numbers heavily stacked against it the Rajya Sabha, government does not rule out the possibility of convening a joint session of Parliament after the budget sitting if its attempts to get through with the ordinances fails.

Top government sources spoke of such an option to get key economic legislations including the one on insurance and coal sector reforms passed if it is not able to enact ordinances on these subjects in the budget session concluding early May.

Sources said the government is considering introducing the Insurance Laws Amendment Bill, which seeks to raise foreign investment in the insurance sector to 49 per cent in the Lok Sabha soon as the earlier Bill has become infructuous following the promulgation of the Ordinance.

"Old bills have become infructuous. Bill based on Ordinances will be introduced. Same would be the case for the Bill pertaining to the insurance sector," the sources said.

In December, the President had promulgated the Ordinance on insurance and re-promulgated Coal Ordinance, a day after the conclusion of the Winter session of Parliament.

The Insurance Laws Amendment Bill, 2008 could not be taken up for discussion in Parliament despite being approved by the Select Committee of the Rajya Sabha because of the uproar over the conversion and other issues.

PTI