Left, NDA against ordinance on Patents Act

Left, NDA against ordinance on Patents Act

Thursday, December 23, 2004 (New Delhi):

The government is likely to issue an ordinance to get the Patents Act amended since the winter session of Parliament ends today.

The WTO deadline for a new Patents Act is January 1. But pushing amendments through an ordinance is likely to see the Left siding with the BJP.

Centre non-committal

The patents amendment was not discussed at the Cabinet meet last evening and the commerce minister remains non-committal.

"The Cabinet shall look at all issues when it meets," held Kamal Nath, minister, commerce and industry.

India could still opt out of meeting the January 1 deadline for putting the product patent regime in place.

But if Finance Minister P Chidambaram is to be believed, the country is all set to keep its date with the WTO. "The only option before the government is to comply," he held.

Unhappy parties

However, this may not go down too well with the Left. The UPA's allies are the most vocal critics of the new patent regime.

"The TRIPS agreement is against India's interests," said S Ramachandran Pillai, politburo member, CPI(M).

And predictably the BJP too is objecting to the ordinance route. "I suspect the government will move an ordinance and thereby deprive Parliament from debating such an important issue," held Arun Jaitley, BJP leader.

Though even if the government issues an ordinance, it will still have to get it passed in Parliament. But that would only be in the next session and this gives the government some time to get its act together.

news from ndtv.com

(With PTI inputs)