The Supreme Court banned tinted glasses in vehicles after a spate of crimes including heinous crimes against women were committed with impunity inside vehicles. Only certain VVIPs and VIPs are exempted by the apex court on the plea that there is a security threat against these individuals. It is unfortunate that an MLA in Meghalaya should take recourse to legislative privileges to continue to use tinted glasses in his vehicle and that a police official who enforces the SC order should be hauled up for breach of legislative privileges.
Elected representatives are by definition public servants. Their principle responsibility is to understand the spirit of the existing laws, to push for new laws and support the enactment of laws that are in public interest. It is also the duty of legislators to oppose laws that go against the democratic principles of this country. This requires that legislators inform themselves better than they are doing today. As a representative of a constituency an MLA should voice in the Assembly and before the government the concerns of his/her constituents and ensure they have good roads, electricity and economic opportunities. Some MLAs are also ministers. However, their vision and concern is for the entire state and not just their constituencies.
MLAs in the Opposition should actually spend their time researching and asking questions in the House not just about their constituencies but also of other areas of public concern which need to be addressed by the Government of the day. In Meghalaya, however we seldom hear of Private Members’ Bills being discussed even though there are numerous lacunae in governance.
It is unfortunate that public servants today only think of the perks of office and think less about their public service. The moment they are elected they consider themselves VIPs that are not subject to the same rules and regulations that bind the common citizen when instead they should be leading the way in respecting the rule of law. This is a very wrong concept and it is high time that the public, who are the electors and the actual power holders, speak up and protest against this arbitrary assertion of power for something as unnecessary as tinted glasses in his vehicles when all other citizens have done away with theirs. That the Privileges Committee should entertain such frivolous complaints also requires that the ambit of this Committee be redefined. Anything that seeks to place the MLA on a pedestal and grant him/her special privileges that are not available to the ordinary citizen is undemocratic.