Opposition members on Thursday demanded extension of the mandate of the joint committee on the Waqf amendment bill, saying they needed more time to study the changes made to the bill.

At a meeting of the committee, president and BJP member Jagdambika Pal announced that Thursday’s meeting would be the last session of the panel and a draft report would be circulated to members soon.

This led to protests by opposition members who resorted to sloganeering and some of them called up Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and sought his intervention in the matter.

The committee has been asked by the Lok Sabha to submit its report on the last day of the first week of the winter session of Parliament which begins on Monday.

The government has already listed the Waqf (Amendment) Bill for consideration and passage in the winter session “after the report of the joint committee is presented in the Lok Sabha”.

In the past too, opposition members on the panel have accused Pal, a BJP MP, of carrying out government orders. They had even threatened earlier to dissociate themselves from the work of the panel.

Their main concern was the panel’s frequent day-long meetings that did not allow them to properly prepare and had accused Pal of “bulldozing the procedures” by not consulting with them to choose who to call to depose.

Several opposition members of the committee had also earlier addressed Speaker Birla against Pal.