Opposition MPs seek four-week extension for public input on FCRA Bill
Ten opposition members of India’s Joint Parliamentary Committee reviewing the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill have asked for the panel’s October 12 meeting to be postponed. They want at least four more weeks for public comments and for committee members to study submissions before deliberations.
Ten opposition members of India’s Joint Parliamentary Committee have asked for more time to examine the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026. In a letter dated September 29 to committee chairman and BJP leader Sanjay Jaiswal, the MPs sought postponement of the panel’s October 12 meeting by at least four weeks. They said the proposed legislation had wide-ranging implications and that committee members needed additional time to study the Bill and related documents.
They also called for the period for public comments, suggestions and representations to remain open for a minimum of four weeks. According to the MPs, the extra period would allow organisations, experts and members of the public to review the provisions and submit their views. It would also enable committee members to consider those representations before beginning detailed deliberations.
The request was made on the same day as the committee’s second sitting. Members received a clause-by-clause briefing from officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Law and Justice’s Legislative Department. The committee also heard from domain experts and stakeholders, including representatives of the State Bank of India, law officers led by Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma, and lawyers from AZB & Partners and T.
Nair Chambers. The letter was signed by MPs from the DMK, Congress, Samajwadi Party, All India Trinamool Congress and National People’s Party. The signatories included A.
Raja, P. Wilson, Christopher Manickam, Hamdullah Sayeed, Viriato Fernandes, Anto Antony, Javed Ali Khan, Zia Ur Rehman Barq, Kalyan Banerjee and James P.K. Sangma.
The committee is required to submit its report to the Lok Sabha by the last day of the first week of Parliament’s Winter Session. The supplied material does not say whether the chairman has accepted the request to postpone the meeting. The proposed amendment concerns India’s regulatory framework for foreign contributions, but the report does not detail the Bill’s provisions.
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