Joint Parliamentary Committee

Context: The Opposition joined hands to demand a probe either by a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC), headed by the Supreme Court or monitored by the Chief Justice of India, into the allegations of fraud and stock manipulation against the Adani Group.

About Joint Parliamentary Committee:

• A Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) is set up by the Parliament for a special purpose, like for the detailed scrutiny of a subject or Bill.
• It has members from both the Houses and from both the ruling parties and the opposition.
• Members of the JPC are decided by the Parliament.
• There is no fixed number of members in the committee.
• It is dissolved after its term ends or its task has been completed.
• The recommendations made by the committee are in recommendatory in nature not binding on the government.

Powers of the committee:

• A JPC can obtain evidence of experts, public bodies, associations, individuals or interested parties suo motu or on requests made by them.
• If a witness fails to appear before a JPC in response to summons, his conduct constitutes a contempt of the House.
• Ministers are not generally called by the committees to give evidence.
  • However, with the permission of the Speaker, the JPC can seek information on certain points from ministers and call the ministers.
• The JPC can take oral and written evidence or call for documents in connection with a matter under its consideration.

The Joint Parliamentary Committees are formed till date include the following cases:

• Bofors scandal (1987)
• Harshad Mehta Stock market scam (1992)
• Ketan Parekh share market scam (2001)
• Soft drink pesticide issue (2003)
• 2G spectrum case (2011)
• VVIP Chopper scam (2013)
• Land Acquisition (2015)
• NRC (2016)
• Personal Data Protection Bill (2019)

Source:  Indian Express

Previous Year Questions

Q.1) Consider the following statements:

1. The Constitution of India classifies the ministers into four ranks viz. Cabinet Minister, Minister of State with Independent Charge, Minister of State and Deputy Minister.
2. The total number of ministers in the Union Government, including the Prime Minister, shall not exceed 15 percent of the total number of members in the Lok Sabha.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct? (2022)

1. 1 only
2. 2 only
3. Both 1 and 2
4. Neither 1 nor 2

Q.2) We adopted parliamentary democracy based on the British model, but how does our model differ from that model? (2021)

1. As regards legislation, the British Parliament is supreme or sovereign but in India, the power of the parliament to legislate is limited.
2. In India, matters related to the constitutionality of the Amendment of an Act of the Parliament are referred to the Constitution Bench by the Supreme Court.

Select the correct answer using the code given below.

1. 1 only
2. 2 only
3. Both 1 and 2
4. Neither 1 nor 2