Too much confrontation in Monsoon Session
By Harihar Swarup
The just concluded monsoon session of parliament witnessed scintillating debate on Lokpal bill following Anna Hazare’s agitation over ending widespread corruption. Both the houses reached a sort of consensus over likely provisions of the Lokpal Bill and conveyed the sense of Parliament to the Standing Committee which is finding out ways and means of producing a strong and purposeful legislation to end graft. In the Rajya Sabha the debate on the motion for impeachment of Justice Soumitra Sen was just brilliant, giving rise to expectation that Parliament might at last return to ways it used to function during Nehru era and later.
Justice Soumitra sen in his appearance before the Rajya Sabha gave a brilliant defence of his case. So much so those listening to him in the press gallery got the impression that he may be allowed to go scot free. But in the ensuing debate member after member including such stalwarts as Arun Jaitley, Sitaram Yechury and Ram Jethmalani demolished Justice Sen’s argument and the impeachment motion was carried by two-third majority. Judging the mood of Parliament, Justice Sen resigned before the impeachment motion could be taken by the Lok Sabha, ending the whole controversy. His resignation has since been accepted by President Pratibha Patil.
Watching and covering the debate on Anna Hazare’s anti-corruption crusade and the discussion of Justice Sen’s impeachment in the Rajya Sabha, one is convinced that there is no dearth of talents in both the houses. What oration from both sides? They make listeners spell-bound. Sadly, these talents have not given opportunity to demonstrate their skills. On Saturday, August 27, when the settlement on Anna Hazare’s Jan Lokpal Bill was reached after day-long debate in both the houses, Parliament had risen to heights not seen in recent decades.
For, from Monday, August 29, proceedings of both the houses started being disrupted, as usual, most raucously. The BJP was irate because of the appointment of Lokayukta in Gujarat by the 84-year-old state governor, Kamla Beniwal, without consulting the council of ministers headed by Narendra Modi. The flip side of the story is that the issue of appointing a new Lokayukta had been before the state government for seven years, to no avail.
The BJP leaders fear that a Lokayukta appointment by the Governor may put Narendra Modi in a tight corner. There is no denying the fact that he has done many irregularities and if challenged by Lokayukta, he may face the fate of the former Karnataka chief minister Yeddyurappa. Constitutional experts say that the governor has followed the principle of appointing the Lokayukta in letter and spirit. She consulted the Chief Justice of the High as she is not supposed to take the approval of the chief ministers. Constitutionally the governor may be right but politically it hits the BJP hard.
As a matter of facts Modi’s deeds were of much graver nature than of the former Karnataka chief minister. That is the reason that the BJP did not allow the remaining session of Parliament to function. One wonders if the centre will ask the governor to withdraw the Lokayukta appoint by her. But it is sad indeed to see disruption of Parliament. The BJP could have asked for the debate which the speaker would have readily granted and lambasted the state government and prevailed upon the centre to ask Beniwal to cancel appointment of the Lokayukta. Instead the party choose to disrupt proceedings forcing the presiding officers to adjourn the house day after day. The BJP, doubtful, has powerful debaters.
As a result of disruptions, the Lok Sabha lost 51 hours and the Rajya Sabha 53 working hours. Both the Chairman, Hamid Ansari and Speaker, Meira Kumar were greatly concerned over loss of time. Each day’s proceedings cost enormous amount of money.
As many as 14 bills were introduced in the session—11 in the Lok Sabha and three in Rajya Sabha. Lok Sabha cleared 13 bills (including those brought in the last sessions) and Rajya Sabha nine. Besides, the two houses discussed the Lokpal issue, plight of Sri Lankan Tamils, the Commonwealth Games and price rise. (IPA Service)