Jaishankar to move weapons of mass destruction bill in Rajya Sabha on Monday

New Delhi, Jul 16 (PTI) Family Courts (Amendment) and Indian Antarctic bill are listed to be taken up in Lok Sabha on Monday, while the Weapons of Mass Destruction and their Delivery Systems (Prohibition of Unlawful Activities) Amendment Bill is listed for consideration and passing on the same day in Rajya Sabha.

Both houses will also pay tributes to former Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates and the Ruler of Abu Dhabi, and Mwai Kibaki the third President of Kenya — three world leaders who died since the last parliament session — as part of their obituary references.

Union External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will move the Weapons of Mass Destruction Bill in Rajya Sabha, as per the house’s list of business. The bill seeks to ban funding of weapons of mass destruction and also empower the Centre to freeze, seize or attach financial assets and economic resources of people engaged in such activities Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju’s name is listed to introduce the Family Courts (Amendment) Bill in Lok Sabha, as per the house’s list of business for Monday.

The draft legislation has been brought to validate the family courts functioning in several states. The absence of a mandatory central government notification has put a question mark on the jurisdiction of the family courts set up to secure a speedy settlement of marriage-related disputes in two states – Nagaland and Himachal Pradesh.

To overcome the legal difficulty, the government has brought this bill to help validate the appointment of judicial officers and court staff in the family courts of the two states with retrospective effect.

Over 710 family courts are functioning in 26 states. Similarly, Union Minister Jitendra Singh’s name is listed for moving the Indian Antartic Bill in Lok Sabha. The bill seeks to give effect to the Antarctic Treaty, and the protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty.

It will apply to any person, vessel or aircraft that is a part of an Indian expedition to Antarctica under a permit issued under the bill.