Round
The States
New Delhi, 25 July
2020
Governor’s Conduct
TN CASE RAISES QUESTIONS
By Insaf
Is Tamil Nadu
Governor undermining the faith and trust attached to the constitutional post,
is a question doing the rounds in the legal fraternity. Governor Banwaril
Purohit has been sitting on the Cabinet’s recommendation of September 2018 to
release all seven life convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.
Exasperated by Raj Bhavan’s dithering, a division bench of Madras High Court warned
on Wednesday last it will be ‘constrained to interfere if the constitutional
authority failed to take a decision in a reasonable time.’ It was hearing a habeas
corpus petition by one of the convict Perairvalam’s mother seeking 3 months parole
on medical grounds and asked the public prosecutor to respond. The court chose
to send a strong message that even though the Governor cannot reject the
State’s recommendation nor there is a
time limit prescribed for a decision to be taken, he can’t simply linger on.
Raj Bhavan must communicate its decision soon, or else be prepared for the
consequences. The next hearing is on Thursday. Will the push come to a shove?
* * * *
Gujarat
Police Code
It’s incredible. Gujarat
police chooses to police itself. An outright clamp down on social media! Its
personnel can’t step out of line. In the wake of growing campaigns seeking wage
hike for constable rank personnel, State DGP Jha on Monday last, issued a
circular titled “Code of Conduct” for ‘members of Police using social media for
public and private use’. Viewing the posts as ‘an attempt to create unrest
among personnel’ he said “any attempt to break unity of khakhi will not be tolerated and such police personnel who are part
of the campaign will face legal and departmental action…” Accordingly, the code
notification spells out don’ts: not to post critical comments on government or
police department publicly; not post or transmit any service related
application; not post any personal opinion while using social media for
government work etc. Jha argues ‘police don’t enjoy same rights as citizens or
other government staff due to nature of their job.. Policing is not an ordinary
job, but a service towards society and country. It cannot be compared with any
other government job… if someone works in the department without the feeling of
service, they cannot serve the society with the best police model…” Here the
critical point would be who defines this “feeling of service”? Speaking against
injustice, would be wrong?
* * * *
Rajasthan
Drama
Nagging uncertainty
continues in Rajasthan’s political landscape. This time, round two seems to
have gone to ‘disgruntled Congress’ Sachin Pilot. On Friday last, Rajasthan High
Court ordered status quo to be maintained in disqualification case against him and
his flock of 18 other MLAs. Speaker Joshi has been barred from acting on his disqualification
notices on basis that Pilot and his supporters didn’t attend the party’s CLP
meetings. While Pilot has contesting it saying that a whip can be issued only
during Assembly, the matter will be hard again by the SC. Meanwhile, Chief
Minister Ashok Gehlot is getting set to have a session of the State Assembly convened
soon to prove his majority, even though opposition BJP has not asked for it. Be
that as it may, Gehlot would await a nod from Governor Kalraj Mishra, whom he
has been meeting. How soon will Raj Bhavan oblige is big question. Normally it
a notice requires 21 days, but if it’s emergency Assembly can be convened with
24 hours’ notice. Will drama get murkier?
* * * *
Monsoon
Havoc
Monsoon wreaks havoc
again. On Thursday last, the flood situation in Assam and Bihar remained grim,
with N Bengal showing several rivers in spate of rising. Worse, UNICEF said 2.4
million children may have been affected in floods across the country and need
immediate support. In Assam 28.32 lakh people in 26 of its 33 districts have
been affected, 1,19 lakh hectares of crop areas damaged and a population of over
26 lakh suffering. In Bihar, about 7.65 lakh have been affected even though no
loss of life is reported. Rescue operations are on. However, UNICEF notes over
6 million people across Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Odisha, Gujarat,
Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Uttarakhand, and West Bengal have been
affected by the floods, including an estimated 2.4 million children. It urges immediate
support, more resources and innovative programmes’ to urgently address the
challenges that these threats represent particularly to the region’s children.
Importantly, Assam Governor Jagdish Mukhi too has urged the Centre to find out
a permanent solution to this perennial problem of floods, year after year. The
question is why can’t we think long-term?
* * * *
Manipur
Gets Centre Attention
New Delhi has found a
way to divert attention from the recent political drama as well as gold
smuggling case in Manipur. On Thursday last, Prime Minister Modi chose to give
a ‘raksha bandhan gift’ to the women
in this north-eastern State by laying the foundation stone for over Rs 3000
crore water supply project. This shall give ‘clean drinking water to Greater
Imphal and 1,700 villages in Manipur...provide a lifeline to these people, and help
women in as many as one lakh families in the state.’ The timing is of interest.
Recall last month, in mid-June, the BJP-led government was on the brink with
the No 2 in the government withdrawing support. And it was none other than Union
Home Minister Amit Shah who had to douse the fire and ensured the 4 NPP MLAs ‘ghar wapasi.’ But given chequered
history, there is no room for complacency. This water supply project, a
component of the national ‘Har Ghar Jal’ goal
by 2024, should finally bring water in taps of thousands of homes, generate
employment but should help Chief Minister Biren Singh flog the point shall that
the State has “developed” under BJP regime. Will the differences get buried? Perhaps, the
project would literally make the ruling BJP say that was all water under the
bridge!
* * * *
Wear
That Mask, Or Else
It’s going to pinch
your pocket and health, is a stern warning from Jharkhand. A whopping fine up
to Rs one lakh and a jail term up to 2 years is what the Cabinet approved to
rein in those not wearing mask or spitting in public places. With infection
tally up to 6682 on Wednesday last, the Soren government decided to crack the
whip. Much harder than other States or cities though. In Ahemdabad it ranges
from Rs 200-500, plus it shall penalise owners of paan shops with Rs 10,000 fine if people are caught spitting in its
vicinity. So far the corporation has earned Rs 1.52 crore since May till
mid-July with 1.72 lakh persons fined and 94 places sealed for violation of
wearing masks/social distancing norms. Some stagger the fine too: Kerala -Rs
200 for first-time offence and Rs 5,000 for repeat offenders), while Odisha-- first
three violations Rs 200 each time, 4th instance and beyond is Rs 500
each; Haryana, Pune, Chandigarh fine Rs 500, whereas Delhi is anything between Rs
200-1000 and jail for up to 6 months. Interestingly, Bihar is practical with lowest
fine of Rs 50 and those flouting the rule are to be given two masks free to
motivate them! --- INFA
(Copyright, India
News & Feature Alliance)
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