 bill no 239 of  2018 the maintenance  of religious harmony bill, 2018 byshri gaurav gogoi, mp a billto establish a national commission for maintenance of religious harmony in the country and for matters connected therwith or incidental theretobe it enacted by parliament in the sixty-ninth year of the republic of india as follows:— chapter i preliminarydefinitions2 in this act, unless the context otherwise requires,—(a) "chairperson" means the chairperson of the national commission for religious harmony constituted under section 3;(b) "commission" the national commission for religious harmony constituted under section 3;5(c) "member" means a member of the commission and includes the member-secretary;10(d) "national commission for minorities" means the national commission for minorities constituted under section 3 of the national commission for minorities act, 1992;(e) "national commission for scheduled castes" means the national commission for scheduled castes referred to in article 338 of the constitution;(f) "national commission for scheduled tribes" means the national commission for scheduled tribes referred to in article 338a of the constitution; and15(g) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this act chapter ii the national commission for maintenance of religious harmony203 (1) the central government shall, by notification in the official gazette, constitute a commission to be known as the national commission for maintenance of religious harmony, to exercise the powers conferred on, and to perform the functions assigned to it under this act(2) the commission shall consist of,—constitution of the national commission for maintenance of religious harmony(a) chairperson, who is or has been, a chief justice of the supreme court; (b) one member who is or has been, a judge of supreme court; (c) one member who is, or has been, the chief justice of a high court;2530(d) a secretay-general, being an officer of the rank of secretary to the"government of india who shall be the chief executive officer of the commission and shall exercise such powers and discharge such functions of the commission, except judicial functions and the power to make regulations, as may be delegated to him by the commission or the chairperson, as the case may be;(e) a representative each who is a head of a religious institutions of the hindu, muslim, christian, sikh, buddhist and parsi community;(f) chairperson of the national commission for minorities, the national commission for scheduled castes and the national commission for the scheduled tribes;35(g) two representatives from the community having expertise in public service or community relations in india;(h) a representative from a leading company or organisation in the field of social media;(i) a representative from the indian police service; and40(j) a representative from the election commission of india, to be appointed by the central government in such manner as may be prescribed(3) the headquarters of the commission shall be at new delhi and the commission may, with the previous approval of the central government, establish offices at such other places in the country as may be prescribed54 (1) the chairperson and the members shall be appointed by the president by warrant under his hand and seal:provided that every appointment under this sub-section shall be made by obtaining the recommendations of a committee consisting of —appointment, term of office and conditions of service of chairpersons and members(a) the prime minister—chairperson; (b) speaker of the house of people—member;10(c) union ministry of home affairs in the government of india—member; (d) leader of the opposition in the house of people—member; (e) leader of the opposition in the council of states—member;(f) deputy chairman of the council of states—member;15provided further, that no sitting judge of the supreme court or sitting chief justice of a high court shall be appointed as a chairperson of the commission except after consultation with the chief justice of india(2) the chairperson and every member shall hold office for such period, not exceeding five years, as may be specified by the central government in this behalf20(3) the chairperson or a member (other than the secretary-general) who is a member of the civil service of the union or of an all india service or holds a civil post under the union may, by writing and addressed to the central government, resign from the office of chairperson or, as the case may be, of the member at any time(4) the central government shall reserve the right to remove a person from the office of chairperson or a member referred to in sub-section (3), if that person -25(a) becomes an undercharged insolvent(b) gets convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for an offence which in the opinion of the central government involves moral turpitude members(c) becomes of unsound mind and stands so declared by a competent court;(d) refuses to act or becomes incapable of acting;30(e) is, without obtaining leave of absence from the commission, absent fromthree consecutive meetings of the commission, or(f) in the opinion of the central government has so abused their position as to render that person's continuance in office detrimental to public interest: provided that no person shall be removed under this clause until that person has been given a reasonable opportunity of being heard in the matter35(5) a vacancy caused under sub-section (3) may be filed by fresh nomination 5 the central government shall make available to the commission:(a) such police and investigative staff under an officer not below the rank of a director general of police; andofficers and other employees of the commission40(b) such other officers and employees as may be necessary for the efficient performance of the functions of the commission under this actsalaries and allowances to be paid out of the grants 6 the salaries and allowances payable to the chairperson and members and the administrative expenses, including salaries, allowances and pensions payable to the officers and other employees referred to in section 5 shall be paid out of the grants referred to in sub-section (1) of section 1057 no act or proceeding of the commission shall be questioned or shall be invalid on the ground merely of the existence of any vacancy or defect in the constitution of the commissionvacancies not to invalidate proceedings of the commission8 (1) the commission shall meet as and when necessary at such time and place as the chairperson may deem fit10procedure to be regulated by the commission(2) the commission shall regulate its own procedure (3)all orders and decisions of the commission shall be authenticated by the member-secretary or any other officer of the commission duly authorized by the member-secretary in this behalf chapter iii15 functions and powers of the commission9 (1) the commission shall,—functions of the commission(a) inquire, suo motu or on a petition presented before it by any person or ondirection or order of any court, into complaints of:20(i) causing feelings of enmity, hatred, ill-will or hostility between differentreligious groups;(ii) carrying out activities to promote a political cause, or a cause of anypolitical party while, or under the guise of, propagating or practising any religious belief;25(iii) carrying out subversive activities under the guise of propagating orpractising any religious belief; (b) review the safeguards provided by or under the constitution or any law forthe time being in force which helps promote religious harmony and recommend measures for their effective implementation;30(c) review the factors the inhibit an environment of religious harmony andrecommend appropriate remedial measures;(d) present to the central government, annually and at such other times as the commission may deem fit, reports upon the working of the framework that helps preserve religious harmony and the factors that hinder it(e) call for special studies or investigations into specific issues or situations that are related to or incidental to the maintenance of religious harmony in the nation; and35(f) any other matter which may be referred to it by the central government, from time to time40(2) the central government shall cause all reports referred to in clause (d) of the subsection (1) to be laid before each house of the parliament along with a memorandum explaining the action taken or proposed to be taken on such recommendations relating to the union and the reasons for nonacceptance, if any, of any such recommendations45(3) where any such report or any part thereof relates to any matter with which any state government is concerned, the commission shall forward a copy of such report or part to such state government who shall cause it to be laid before the legislature of the state along with a memorandum explaining the action taken or proposed to be taken on the recommendations relating to the state and the reasons for non-acceptance, if any, of any such recommendationspowers of the commission10 (1) the advice of the commission shall ordinarily be binding upon the central government5(2) the commission shall, while performing its functions under sub-section (1) of section 9, have all the powers of a civil court trying a suit and in particular, in respect of the following matters, namely: —(a) summoning and enforcing the attendance of any person from any part ofindia and examining him on oath;10(b) requiring the discovery and production of any document; (c) receiving evidence on affidavits; (d) requisitioning any public record or copy thereof from any court of office; (e) issuing commissions for the examination of witnesses and documents; and (f) any other matter which may be prescribed15(3) the commission may, for the purpose of conducting any investigation pertainingto the inquiry, utilise the services of any officer or investigation agency of the central government or any state government with the concurrence of the central government or the state government, as the case may be chapter iv20 finance, accounts and auditgrants by the central government11 (1) the central government shall, after due appropriation made by parliament by law in this behalf, provide to the commission by the way of grants such sums of money as the central government may deem fit for being utilised for the purposes of this act25(2) the commission may spend such sums as it thinks fit for performing the functions under this act, and such sums shall be treated as expenditure payable out of the grants referred to in sub-section (1)accounts and audit12 (1) the commission shall maintain proper accounts and other relevant records and prepare an annual statement of accounts in such form as may be prescribed by the central government in consultation with the comptroller and auditor-general of india30(2) the accounts of the commission shall be audited by the comptroller and auditor-general at such intervals as may be specified by him and any expenditure incurred in connection with such audit shall be payable by the commission to the comptroller and auditor-general35 40(3) the comptroller and auditor-general and any person appointed by them inconnection with the audit of the accounts of the commission under this act shall have the same rights and privileges and the authority in connection with such audit as the comptroller and auditor-general generally has in connection with the audit of the government accountsand, in particular, shall have the right to demand the production of books, accounts, connected vouchers and other documents and papers and to inspect any of the offices of the commission(4) the accounts of the commission, as certified by the comptroller and auditor-general or any other person appointed by him in this behalf, together with the audit report there on shall be forwarded annually to the central government by the commissionannual report4513 the commission shall prepare in such form and at such time for each financial year, as may be prescribed, its annual report, giving full account of its activities during the previous financial year and forward a copy there of  to the central governmentannual report and audit report to be laid before the parliament14 the central government shall cause the annual report together with a memorandum of action taken on the recommendations contained therein, in so far as they relate to the central government and the reasons for non-acceptance, if any, of any of such recommendations and the audit report to be laid as soon as may be after the reports are received, before each house of parliament5 chapter v misceallaneous1015 the chairperson, the members, officers and other employees of the commission shall be deemed to be public servants within the meaning of section 21 of the indian penal code, 1860chairperson, members and staff of the commission to be public servants16 the central government shall consult the commission on all major policy decisions relating to the detection, treatment, engagement and deportation of illegal migrantscentral government to consult commission power to make rules17 (1) the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, make rules for carrying out the provisions of the act15(2) in particular, and without prejudice to the generality of foregoing power, such rules may provide for all or any of the following matters, namely:—(a) salaries and allowances payable to, and the other terms and conditions of service of, the chairperson and members under sub-section (2) of section 3 and of officers and other employees under sub-section (2) of section 5;20(b) the form in, and the time at, which the annual report shall be prepared under section 13; and(c) any other matter which is required to be, or may be, prescribed25(3) every rule made under this act shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is made, before each house of the parliament, while it is in session, for a total period of thirty days which may be comprised in one session or in two or more successive sessions, and if, before the expiry of the session immediately following the session or successive sessions afore said, both houses agree in making any modification in the rule or both houses agree that the rule should not be made, the rule shall thereafter have effect only in such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be; so, however, that any such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that rule30 statement of objects and reasonsindia is a secular state, deriving its supreme source of political authority from the constitution of india and not popular religious mandate however, india is home to people of different races, languages and religions it's diverse demographic profile often leads to accentuated religious distinctions between the populace religious polarization has provided scope for sectarian violence and tension in india for decadeslately, instances of religious in tolerance have been on the rise in india as per a reply to a question before the lok sabha earlier this year, it was brought to notice that instances of communal violence or religious motivated violence have risen by 28% between the years of 2014 and 2017 india was also recently ranked 4th in a list of religiously intolerant nations released by pew research centre it is no secret that religious groups have been involving themselves in the political process indirectly by politicising various matters and exploiting religious sentiments to garner political support for different parties in light of these considerations, it is imperative that religious institutions are not allowed to stray beyond their boundaries by venturing into radical social actionthe government shall strive to maintain the secular nature of our state and an important aspect of this is to maintain religious harmony the government shall endeavour to remain neutral in its relations with different religious groups in the country and not favour any of them in preference to the others the government shall strive to protect each citizen's right to choose their religion and to exercise his religious rights as long as do not infringe upon the rights or sensitivities of other citizens of the country the present bill seeks to empower the government to effectively maintain religious harmony by ensuring followers of a religion exercise tolerance towards other religions and strive to keep politics and religion separate from one anotherhence this billnew delhi;gaurav gogoinovember 28, 2018 financial  memorandumclause 3 of the bill provides for the establishment of the national commission for maintenance of religious harmony clause 5 provides for appointment of officers and employees for functioning of the commission clause 6 provides for the appointment of and payment of chairperson, secretary general, members, officers and any other staff as may be necessary clause 11 ptcvides for the central government to provide adequate funds for the smooth functioning of the commission the bill therefore, if enacted, would involve expenditure from the consolidated fund of india however, at this stage the recurring and non-recurring expenditure cannot be estimated but has to be worked out by the central government while implementing the provisions of the bill memorandum  regarding  delegated  legislationclause 17 of the bill empowers the central government to make rules for carrying out the purposes of the bill as the rules will relate to matters of detail only, the delegation of legislative power is of a normal character lok  sabha———— a billto establish a national commission for maintenance of religious harmony in the country and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto————(shri gaurav gogoi, mp)mgipmrnd—2272ls(s3)—20-12-2018