Round The States
New Delhi, 1 September 2011
Gujarat Lokayukta
GOVERNOR’s ROLE
QUESTIONABLE
By Insaf
The Congress’ problems continue to multiply. This time in Gujarat where it’s Governor Kamla Beniwal’s move to
appoint a Lokayukta without consulting the Modi Government has sparked an
acrimonious exchange between the BJP and the Congress, both in the State and
Centre. Reaching a crescendo with the Saffron Party petitioning President
Pratibha Patil and demanding the Governor’s recall. Recall, last week, the
Governor suo moto appointed retired
Judge R.A. Mehta as the State Lokayukta bypassing the State Government. On the
grounds that “there might be a circumstance, where the Governor could not
remain a mute spectator to the happenings in the State.” Congress leaders sided
with the Governor by quoting the relevant law which states the Lokayukta is
appointed by the Governor, Leader of Opposition and the Chief Justice of the
High Court. Clearly, it took advantage that the law is silent on the need to
consult the Chief Minister and his Government for the Lokayukta’s appointment.
The ruling BJP countered, by asserting that the consultations with the
Government might be unwritten but are implied therein.
Interestingly, the appointment of the State Lokayukta had
been hanging fire since November 2009. But more important, Gujarat has once
again ignited the controversy on gubernatorial appointment with not a few
Governors’ in various States being accused of acting at the behest of their mai-baaps in the Centre. Only recently
Karnataka’s Governor HR Bhardwaj earned the ire of the erstwhile Yedurappa
Government for acting as the Centre’s ‘rubber stamp’, in Bihar Buta Singh’s too
played politics with his Government as also Syed Sibtey Razi's in Jharkhand, S
C Jamir in Goa, Romesh Bhandari in UP et al who all willy nilly acted on the
Centre’s behest even if it went against the grain of upholding the best tenets
of the Constitution and our Parliamentary democracy. Undoubtedly, Gujarat yet again underscores the need to have a fresh
look at the appointment of Governors in the various States. Time for the UPA to
dust up the Sarkaria Commission report and appoint ‘apolitical’ Governors who do not ‘serve as the eyes and
ears of the Centre’ but use their expertise in voicing concerns of the State
and its people to the powers that-be in New Delhi.
* * *
TN Opens Pandora’s
Box
Recent occurrences in Tamil Nadu in all likelihood have
opened a Pandora’s Box. Ten days before the three accused in the Rajiv Gandhi
assassination case were to be hanged, the Madras High Court on Tuesday last
stayed their execution for eight weeks. Additionally, the State Assembly has
passed an unprecedented “unanimous” resolution appealing to President Pratibha
Patil to reconsider their mercy plea. What happens next is anybody’s guess, but
the two events shall have a cascading effect. The court gave the stay after
hearing the pleadings of the three accused that the delay of over 11 years in
deciding their mercy petitions should be the sole ground for commuting their
death sentence. This could have an impact on the fate of another death row
convict in Assam,
M K Das, whose mercy petition too was rejected by the President after a gap of
11 years. A similar case resonates in Haryana, wherein convict Dharam Pal’s
mercy petition has been hanging fire since 1999. All eyes are now on what the
Centre replies to the Madras High Court.
* *
*
Ripples In J&K
The Tamil Nadu Assembly’s resolution resonated even up
north, in Jammu & Kashmir. None other than its Chief Minister Omar Abdullah
has set the cat amongst the pigeons. On Wednesday last, he tweeted: If J&K
Assembly had passed a resolution similar to the Tamil Nadu one for Afzal Guru
(convicted in Parliament attack case) would the reaction have been as muted? I
think not”. The tweet has unfortunately provided ammunition to the separatists,
with Mirwaiz Umar Farooq calling the J&K Assembly a proxy of New Delhi and adding that
“it doesn’t have the guts to do anything…. It hasn’t even been able to pass a
resolution against the Armed Forces Special Powers Act despite repeatedly
asking for its revocation.” While some NC leaders tend to agree with Mirwaiz,
an Independent MLA Engineer Rashid is thinking on the lines of introducing a
similar resolution in the Assembly in favour of Guru. The big question now is
that if this happens, what would be the Centre’s reaction.
* *
*
Punjab Upset
Punjab is all set to pick up cudgels with
the Centre. This follows New Delhi’s
refusal to amend the Sikh Marriage Act on the grounds that this was
unjustifiable and it would invite similar demands from other communities. Worse,
the Centre’s “No” came in a reply to a question by Shiromani Akali Dal MP
Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday last. An upset Badal accused
the Centre of “breach of trust”, asserting that the then Law Minister Veerappa
Moily had assured him that the draft bill was ready and would be sent to the
Cabinet. The CM now plans to meet the Prime Minister and Law Minister Salman
Khurshid to press for the amendment to the Anand Karaj (Marriage) Act 1909. So
far, marriages performed under Sikh religious rights are registered either
under the Hindu Marriage Act or the Special Marriage Act. How the Centre will
calm the Sikh community is worth a watch.
* * *
Delhi’s Citizen Charter
Delhi Government is all set to make Anna and his team happy.
It has decided not to let officials sit on files. On Wednesday last, the Delhi
Right of Citizens to Time Bound Delivery of Services (DRCTBDS), passed in March
was notified. Well, from 15 September, select departments of the Government
such as those dealing with cable licences, health licence, mutation of land
records etc will be committed to service-level agreements for delivering on
citizens demands within a time frame. While the penalty for defaulting officers
is shockingly low, Rs 10 per application per day of delay, which could go up to
Rs 200, “habitual offenders” would have to pay dearly. They could face
administrative action, departmental inquiry or transfer posting. The monitoring
will be done through electronic-service level agreement (e-SLA) under the Delhi
Administration. Said an elated Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit: “This Act was
scheduled for notification more than four months ago by us, much before Anna
Hazare raised the issue of Citizens’ Charter.” Three Cheers! ---- INFA
(Copyright, India News & Feature
Alliance)
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