Friday 28 April 2017

Supreme Court to Centre: No justification to hold on to Lokpal law, absence of Leader of Opposition no reason to delay

Supreme Court to Centre: No justification (वजह) to hold on to Lokpal law, absence of Leader of Opposition no reason to delay

The Supreme Court said on Thursday that the Lokpal law as it stands today is "workable(व्यावहारिक)" and there is no "justification" to hold it back till the proposed amendments are effected. A bench of Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Navin Sinha also dismissed(खारिज कर दिया) another plea seeking privacy of the Chief Justice of India in the selection of the Lokpal. Earlier in March, the central government told the Supreme Court that the Lokpal amendment bill, which recognises (पहचानता है) the leader of the single largest opposition party in Lok Sabha as the Leader of Opposition and will pave the way for operationalising the institution, may be taken up for consideration (विचार) during the monsoon session of Parliament. 

Telling the bench that government was not dragging its feet on taking up the Lokpal and Lokayuktas and Other Related Law (Amendment) Bill, 2014, Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi told the bench of Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Navin Sinha that the current session of Parliament is devoted to budget and "may be it (amendment bill) will be considered in the monsoon session".

He told the court tha tthe selection committee comprising the Prime Minister, Lok Sabha Speaker, the Leader of Opposition and the Chief Justice of India can't nominate the fifth member - the eminent jurist - without the Leader of Opposition being there.

As the government said that it was seized of the issue and opposed any intervention by the court, the court reserved its verdict on a batch of petitions including one by society Common Cause seeking mandamus to the government to take steps for enforcing the law enacted i n 2013.

Representational image. ReutersRepresentational image. Reuters
Citing the separation of powers under the Constitution, Rohatgi told the court that "there can't be a mandamus to bring an Act into force because as Parliament can't ask how courts are functioning or a particular case be decided in a particular time frame" and similarly, courts can't venture into the law-making province of legislature.

"Whether they pass, how they pass, how they do, whether they can pass in two minutes, is within the province of the Parliament," he stressed.

Rohatgi said that the amendment to treat the leader of the largest opposition party as Leader of Opposition for the purposes of the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013, was just one of the many amendments that are being sought to be made in the statute.

Earlier appearing for Common Cause, senior counsel Shanti Bhushan referred to different laws where leader of the largest opposition party is treated as Leader of Opposition for the purposes of the appointment of the Central Bureau of Investigation's Director or even the Chief Vigilance Commissioner.

He pressed for a direction that in the absences of the Leader of the Opposition, the remaining three members - the Prime Minister, Lok Sabha Speaker and the Chief Justice of India should nominate the fifth member — the eminent jurist — so that the process for the appointment of Lokpal could start.

Buttressing the point advanced by Bhushan, another counsel Gopal Shankarnarayan drew the attention of the court to the passing of the amendment to Section 44 of the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013, dealing with the declaration of assets by the public servants.

He said that in the case of the amendment, the government had the clear intention and it went ahead with it and asked how piecemeal amendment can be given effect to while the other amendments which, according to the government, are essential for operationalising the law are not being pushed by it

2 comments:

  1. Sukla Sen sukla.sen@gmail.com [indiathinkersnet]
    To
    foil-l
    BCC
    indiathinkersnet@yahoogroups.com

    Today at 10:25



    [If the very selection process of the Lokpal is vitiated, the whole

    purpose is defeated; in fact, it may even turn out to be

    counterproductive.



    Instead of asking the government to table the necessary amendment in

    the parliament at the very earliest - there is no legitimate ground

    for the inordinate delay, it tells the government to go ahead without

    the opposition nominee in the selection panel.



    It’s just weird.]



    All India | Reported by A Vaidyanathan, Sunil Prabhu, Edited by

    Deepshikha Ghosh | Updated: April 27, 2017 19:44 IST



    HIGHLIGHTS

    Anti-corruption Lokpal should be set up without delay: Supreme Court

    Law to set up Lokpal was passed in parliament in 2013, enacted year later

    Since then, there has been no movement



    The anti-corruption Lokpal should be set up without delay and the

    lack of a Leader of Opposition should not hold up the process anymore,

    the Supreme Court told the government today. This means, the

    government can select an ombudsman without taking the Congress, the

    main opposition group, on board.



    “Set up a Lokpal without the involvement of a Leader of Opposition.

    There is no reason to delay the appointment of a Lokpal due to the

    non-availability of a Leader of Opposition,” the court said, acting on

    a petition that says the process has been delayed for three years.



    The law to set up a Lokpal was passed in parliament in 2013 - after a

    massively popular campaign led by activist Anna Hazare that included

    Arvind Kejriwal and Prashant Bhushan - and was enacted a year later.



    Since then, there has been no movement.



    Last month, the government told the court that the Lokpal cannot be

    appointed for now as there is no Leader of Opposition in the selection

    panel and a change in law that would allow the Congress - as largest

    opposition group - to be a member has yet to be approved in

    parliament.



    In 2014, the BJP came to power, decimating the Congress after two

    terms. Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan said the leader of

    opposition’s place in the Lokpal selection committee would stay vacant

    as there was none. The Congress with 44 seats fell far short of what

    it needed to qualify for Leader of Opposition; a party needs to win at

    least 10 per cent of seats in the 545-member Lok Sabha.



    Amid criticism and prodding from the Supreme Court, the government

    later made a concession and decided to include the largest opposition

    party in selection panels not just for the Lokpal but also for CBI

    chief.



    Other members of the Lokpal selection panel are the Prime Minister,

    the Lok Sabha Speaker, the Chief Justice of India or a Supreme Court

    judge, and an eminent jurist.





    Peace Is Doable

    ReplyDelete
  2. Latching onto
    the Supreme Court’s verdict on Lokpal issue, BSP supremo Mayawati on
    Thursday asked Modi to shun its “stubborn
    attitude” and immediately appoint the anti-corruption ombudsman.Our country’s Chief Justice of
    India, Chief Election Commission, and the Lok Pal offices must have
    collegiate system consisting of members from SC/STs/OBCs/Minorities.


    Our country’s Chief Justice of
    India, Chief Election Commission, and the Lok Pal offices must have
    collegiate system consisting of members from SC/STs/OBCs/Minorities.

    in 1) Classical English,

    http://www.firstpost.com/politics/modi-government-must-shun-stubborn-attitude-appoint-lokpal-mayawati-3409552.html


    Lucknow: Latching onto
    the Supreme Court’s verdict on Lokpal issue, BSP supremo Mayawati on
    Thursday asked Modi to shun its “stubborn
    attitude” and immediately appoint the anti-corruption ombudsman.

    “Modi now needs to display honesty and his good intentions
    towards fighting corruption and appoint the first Lokpal of the
    country,” she said.

    Her statement came hours after the
    apex court ruled that Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013, is a “workable
    piece of legislation” and it was not justifiable to keep its operation
    pending.

    The Modi has been misusing official
    machinery and hatching conspiracies in his bid to prove itself as honest
    and all others as dishonest and incorrect, she alleged.
    Mayawati. Reuters

    Mayawati. Reuters

    He has been shying away from appointing Lokpal which could fight
    corruption. This has naturally raised a serious question mark on the
    honesty and intention of Modi and this should be addressed
    after today’s verdict, she said.

    She alleged that despite the law being enacted long back, it has been put on the back burner on one pretext or the other.

    “Modi should now shun its stubborn attitude and ego and
    appoint Lokpal in compliance with Supreme Court orders without any
    delay,” she said.

    The law to set up a Lokpal was passed in
    Parliament in 2013.

    Last month ,Modi told the
    court that the Lokpal cannot be appointed for now as important changes
    to a committee that is to select its members have yet to be cleared by
    Parliament.

    The changes involve redefining the “Leader of
    Opposition” post to enable the leader of the largest opposition group
    in the Lok Sabha to be a part of the Lokpal selection panel.

    This
    was needed after the Congress failed to win enough seats in the 2014
    Lok Sabha elections to qualify for the post of Leader of Opposition. The
    change has to be cleared in Parliament, Modi argued.

    After
    the BJPgobbled the Master Key by distorting, rigging and tampering the fraud EVMs in 2014, Modi said the leader of
    opposition’s place in the Lokpal selection committee would stay vacant.

    Modi later made a concession and decided to include the largest
    opposition party in selection panels not just for the Lokpal but also
    for the CBI chief, the Information Commission and the Vigilance
    Commission.

    The Congress has been cleared to participate
    in all but the Lokpal panel, whose other members are the Prime Minister,
    the Lok Sabha Speaker, the Chief Justice of India or a Supreme Court
    judge, and an eminent jurist.

    Our country’s Chief Justice of
    India, Chief Election Commission, and the Lok Pal offices must have
    collegiate system consisting of members from SC/STs/OBCs/Minorities.

    ReplyDelete