New Delhi, August 10: The Rajya Sabha passed the Bankers Books Evidence Bill on Monday through a voice vote. However, opposition members walked out during the proceedings.
The purpose of this new legislation is to replace the 135-year-old Bankers Books Evidence Act of 1891, modernizing the legal framework surrounding financial evidence to align with today’s digital banking practices.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman emphasized the necessity of this bill, noting that the original law was established when banking records were primarily maintained in physical form. Its main aim was to allow certified copies of bank records to be used as evidence in legal proceedings, relieving bank officials from the burden of presenting original ledgers in court.
With the rapid growth of digital banking, records are now created and secured using modern technology.
Sitharaman stated that this bill is designed to ensure “complete privacy and security.”
As the bill was introduced, opposition members continued to chant slogans. The Deputy Chairman informed opposition leader Mallikarjun Kharge that if they limited their comments to the bill, they would be allowed to speak under the rules of 1952. This led to a heated debate.
Kharge raised his voice, accusing the government of being “fund-robbers,” but his remarks were drowned out by the uproar.
The Deputy Chairman then requested members to stay on topic and called several speakers to the floor, including Mohammad Nadeemul Haque (AITC, West Bengal), Arun Singh (BJP, Uttar Pradesh), Manas Ranjan Mangaraj (BJD, Odisha), S. Niranjan Reddy (YSRCP, Andhra Pradesh), Rajendra Hiralal Jain (NCP, Maharashtra), Bhashyam Ramakrishna (TDP, Andhra Pradesh), Ravi Chandra Vaddiraju (VRS, Telangana), L.K. Sudhish (DMK, Tamil Nadu), Dr. M. Dhanapal (AIADMK, Tamil Nadu), and Dr. Jyoti Nagnath Waghmare (Shiv Sena, Maharashtra).
Members who spoke on the bill welcomed this long-awaited technical update and discussed data privacy and security in the new legislation.
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