‘Right to disconnect’, criminalising marital rape: Private bills by Tharoor, others seek big changes
Several MPs have presented Private Member's Bills addressing issues like marital rape, urban employment, and the ‘right to disconnect’ after office hours.
A wide spectrum of private members' bills seeking major policy, legal and constitutional changes have been introduced in both Houses of Parliament in the ongoing Winter Session, covering issues from urban employment and consent-based criminal law to death penalty abolition, ‘no work calls after office hours’ and even changes to the Constitution's Preamble.
A Private Member’s Bill is a legislative proposal introduced in Parliament by a member (MP) who is not a minister.
Only 14 private members' bills have ever been passed into law, and none by both Houses since 1970.
‘Right to Disconnect’: Some private member's bills moved in Parliament
-Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Raghav Chadha introduced a Bill to give citizens the "right to recall" elected representatives, saying, “The Bill addresses this gap where elected representatives can be recalled if they don't perform their duties.”
-Raghav Chadha also Introduced a Private Member’s Bill in Parliament to provide for maximum punishment for sacrilege to Sri Guru Granth Sahib ji, Bhagwat Gita, Holy Quran and Holy Bible. This bill proposes to amend the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 to make such cases of sacrilege a crime punishable with a maximum punishment, he said.
-In the Rajya Sabha, Trinamool Congress leader Derek O'Brien moved a Bill to formulate a law guaranteeing urban employment on the lines of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, according to PTI news agency.
-In the Lok Sabha, NCPSP MP Supriya Sule introduced the "Right to Disconnect Bill, 2025" proposing an employees' welfare authority and conferring the right to refuse work calls and emails beyond office hours.
-Sule also moved The Paternity and Paternal Benefits Bill, 2025, seeking paid paternal leave “to ensure fathers have the legal right to take part in their child's early development”.
-Congress MP Shashi Tharoor introduced three private members' bills - one to criminalise marital rape, stating India must move from "no means no" to "only yes means yes"; another to establish a permanent States and Union Territories Reorganisation Commission; and a third to amend the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020. "Marital rape is not about marriage but about violence. The moment for action has arrived," Tharoor said in a post on X on December 5.
-Congress MP Kadiyam Kavya introduced the Menstrual Benefits Bill, 2024, while Shambhavi Choudhary (LJP) moved a Bill for paid menstrual leave and access to menstrual hygiene facilities, PTI reported.
-Congress MP Manickam Tagore introduced a Bill to exempt Tamil Nadu from NEET. DMK MP Kanimozhi Karunanidhi introduced a Bill to abolish the death penalty. Independent MP Vishaldada Prakashbapu Patil moved The Journalist (Prevention of Violence and Protection) Bill, 2024.
-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Ganesh Singh introduced a Bill seeking the use of Hindi in Supreme Court proceedings.
-BJP MP Bhim Singh introduced The Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2025, to remove the words 'socialist' and 'secular' from the Preamble. He said the words were added "in an 'undemocratic' manner during the Emergency" and argued, "It is unnecessary. It is not required; it only creates confusion."
-Nominated Rajya Sabha MP Sudha Murty moved an amendment to the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. TMC MP Saket Gokhale introduced a Bill for transcription, maintenance and public availability of accurate court records.
The Winter Session of Parliament kickstarted on December 2 and is scheduled to be held till December 19. Last year, the winter session was held between November 25 and December 20.
