Comment Pieces

 

 

It is easy to be brazen in India. One can get away with anything, or almost anything. The government under a cloud for various scams has now come up with an ordinance saving convicted lawmakers from being disqualified immediately, as per an earlier Supreme Court order.

 

Critics say that an undue haste was shown by bringing in the ordinance and point out that two leaders in the ruling coalition are the immediate benificiaries. One of them is Rashid Masood, a senior Congress leader from Uttar Pradesh and the other one is Laloo Prasad Yadav from Bihar. 

 

The argument is that the  conviction of Congress MP Rashid Masood in a case of corruption and other offences has made Government weigh the options on bringing an ordinance in this regard. Once the quantum of punishment is pronounced by a CBI court next month, Masood faces the prospects of losing his membership of Rajya Sabha as the July 10 order of the apex court is now the law of the land. He could be the first MP to lose his seat after the SC verdict.

 

The fate of RJD chief Lalu Prasad, whose party is supporting the government from outside, is also to be decided in fodder scam case on September 30. 

 

One wonders if the government is naive enough to risk its credibility for the sake of two leaders.

The government on its part says that the ordinance would any way require the endorsement of parliament, and would be taken up by the house in the next session.

 

Already, a Public Interest Litigation has been filed in the Supreme Court, and will come up for hearing soon. The BJP is also meeting the President Pranab Mukherjee requesting him not to sign the ordinance. The BJP and left parties have gone on record that the ordinance will be defeated in parliament. 

 

 

But Union law and justice minister Kapil Sibal says that the ordinance was stricter than the apex court's decision, and was introduced after due discussions with BJP leaders. Legal pundits arguing for the government say that there are some grey areas in the subject which has to be addressed immediately in view of contradiction between the constitutional provisions and the recent SC verdict on disqualification.

 

All said and done, the why of the ordinance remains. Is it a compulsion from a coalition partner or are we missing something?

 

However, there is something which should cheer up the government. The case on Rashid Masood relates to his tenure as the Health Minister of the VP Singh government. So there it goes. You cannot just blame the Congress for everything.