NEW DELHI: The Rajya Sabha on Monday passed the Bankers’ Books Evidence Bill, 2026, by a voice vote after Opposition members walked out before a detailed discussion could take place.
Following multiple adjournments earlier in the day, the House reassembled, and Vice-Chairman Harivansh Narayan Singh called upon Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to move that the Bill, already passed by the Lok Sabha, be taken into consideration.
The legislation sought to replace the 135-year-old Bankers’ Books Evidence Act of 1891 and align the legal framework governing financial evidence with contemporary digital banking practices.
Opposition members continued raising slogans as the Bill was tabled.
The Vice-Chairman told Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge that he would be permitted to speak under the rules framed in 1952 if he confined his remarks to the Bill. A heated exchange followed.
Kharge raised his voice, shouting “chanda chor….,” but his words were drowned out in the din.
The Vice-Chairman then requested members to stick to the subject and called upon several speakers, including Mohammad Nadimul Haque, AITC (West Bengal), Arun Singh of the BJP from Uttar Pradesh, Manas Ranjan Mangaraj of the BJD from Odisha, S. Niranjan Reddy of the YSRCP from Andhra Pradesh, Rajendra Hiralal Jain of the NCP from Maharashtra, Bhashyam Rama Krishna of the TDP from Andhra Pradesh, Ravi Chandra Vaddiraju of the VRS from Telangana, L.K. Sudheesh of the DMDK from Tamil Nadu, Dr M. Dhanapal of the AIADMK from Tamil Nadu, and Dr Jyoti Nagnath Waghmare of the Shiv Sena from Maharashtra.
Explaining the need for the legislation, Nirmala Sitharaman said the original 1891 law was enacted when banking records were maintained predominantly in physical form. Its primary purpose was to allow certified copies of bank records to be used as evidence in legal proceedings, thereby saving bank officials the trouble of producing original ledgers in court.
With the rapid growth of digital banking, records are now created, stored and maintained using modern technology.
She said the Bill has been introduced to protect “full privacy and safeguards”.
The government therefore found it necessary to modernise and strengthen the existing legal framework.
Members who spoke on the Bill welcomed the long-overdue technological update and also talked about data privacy and safeguards in the new law.
Earlier in the afternoon, the House was adjourned till 2.15 p.m. after Deputy Chairman Harivansh Narayan Singh’s attempt to call the Finance Minister was disrupted within two minutes by the Opposition, which continued its protest.
--IANS
