{"id":236367,"date":"2024-03-06T01:55:19","date_gmt":"2024-03-05T20:25:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/?p=236367"},"modified":"2024-03-06T01:55:19","modified_gmt":"2024-03-05T20:25:19","slug":"no-more-immunity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/2024\/03\/06\/no-more-immunity\/","title":{"rendered":"No more immunity"},"content":{"rendered":"

Court Tells Jan Sewak<\/strong><\/h3>\n

By Poonam I Kaushish<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

Jan sewaks or swayam sewaks? Public servants we are assert our Right Honourables. But that is only for public consumption. Where gold speaks, their tongues are silent. Politics is a highly lucrative business, which needs no personal capital: only the ability to con the public that you are their ultimate messiah. A one-man company whose cash counters keep ringing. And, which pays rich dividends to its owner depending on the fluctuating value of his stock!<\/p>\n

Not any more. If the Supreme Court has its say \u2014 and way. In a landmark unanimous judgment a seven-Judge Constitution Bench has brutally torn asunder the political facade. Exposing our netas in all their ugliness by overruling its 1998 five Bench ruling that gave legislators immunity from prosecution for accepting bribes to make a speech or cast a vote in Parliament or State legislatures.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cWe disagree with the majority judgment in Narasimha Rao case which grants immunity to legislators as it has a wide ramifications, grave danger and thus overruled,\u201d said Chief Justice Chandrachud. Holding taking a bribe is an independent crime and has no link with Parliamentary privileges and what a lawmaker says or does inside Parliament or Assembly hence immunity from prosecution will not shield them.<\/p>\n

Adding, \u201ccorruption and bribery is destructive of the aspirations and deliberative ideals of the Constitution and creates a polity which deprives citizens of a responsible, responsive, and representative democracy..<\/p>\n

Thereby, discounting Articles 105 and 194 which protects MPs and MLAs freedom of speech and shields them from \u201cany proceedings in any court in respect of anything said or any vote given by him in the Legislature\u201d to enable them to work without fear of legal action. This, the Court warned would create a section that can enjoy unregulated exemption from law and potentially destroy functioning of our Parliamentary democracy.<\/p>\n

Besides, the 1998 judgment had created a \u201cparadoxical situation\u201d where a legislator who accepts a bribe and votes accordingly is protected and a lawmaker who despite taking a bribe votes independently is prosecuted.<\/p>\n

This verdict has its genesis in Circa July 20, 1993: A CPM MP moves a No Confidence Motion against Narasimha Rao\u2019s minority Congress Government. The Congress has 251 in a 528 members Lok Sabha, but it defeats the motion with 265 votes by \u2018garnering\u2019 the 14 missing votes.<\/p>\n

Circa 28 February 1996: Rashtriya Mukti Morcha files a complaint with the CBI alleging that these 14 MPs were paid over Rs. 3 crore for voting Congress.<\/p>\n

Circa 1 March 1996: In an iconic speech JMM MP Suraj Mandal one of those bribed by the Congress states in the Lok Sabha: \u201cWhich MP does not take money\u2026 I know the people who have made money from the coal and iron extracted\u2026taken donations, money in thailis and gathris\u2026 the CPM and JMM take levy from people. What about petrol pumps? Even BJP is involved. Do saand ke beech bachchre ko kyon la rahe ho?\u201d His speech was heard in pin-drop silence. None protested.\u00a0 How could they? He was only speaking the truth.<\/p>\n

Again on Circa 22 July 2008: The Congress-led UPA Government moves a confidence vote in the Lok Sabha after the Left withdraws support over the Indo-US nuclear deal and wins it with a 19 vote victory (275 as against 256 of the Opposition\u2019s). Prior to voting, large amounts of cash are displayed by three MPs.\u00a0 Predictably, all hell breaks loose.<\/p>\n

A Parliamentary Committee is set up to go into the unparallel Lok Sabha cash-for-vote scam. Eleven MPs are expelled and the case handed to the police in January 2009.<\/p>\n

Circa July-September 2011: The Supreme Court pulls up the police for its shoddy investigations. Two months later, late Samajwadi MP Amar Singh, two BJP MPs who exposed the scam and two middle men are jailed. On the Lok Sabha\u2019s penultimate day, Working Chairman of the NDA Advani hails the BJP\u2019s ex-MPs as whistle blowers and declares that if they are guilty, then he too should be jailed. \u201cI did the sting, arrest me,\u201d he dares.<\/p>\n

Circa May 2015: Telangana TDP leader is caught on video offering bribe to a nominated MLA in exchange for his vote in Legislative Council elections. One TDP MLA is sent to jail. But the High Court lets him out due to \u201cinsufficient evidence.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wring your hands all you want, but all three incidents highlight the deep malaise that affects our political system and absence of probity at all levels of public life alongside dishonesty and immorality. In fact, the under-belly of power politics has become more shameless, rotten, ugly and raw to the gutter level. Victory at any cost no matter what it takes. Forget Constitutional morality.<\/p>\n

It is all very well for our Right Honourables today to rave and rant, appear horrified, adopt a holier-than-thou attitude and profess to uphold the best tenets of Parliamentary democracy. Sic. But the moot point is: Had our MPs gone in for some soul-cleansing, taken timely action and stemmed the rot in 1996, 2011-15 would not have happened.<\/p>\n

But they did. Bluntly, because politics continues to be all about money, honey. Whereby, buying-selling of votes is on auto-mode all the time. Wads of notes are exchanged at a drop of a hat. And going to jail is fast becoming a badge of honour! Succinctly remarked a charge-sheeted MP, \u201cWe are only settling political scores, it has nothing to do with being corrupt or clean. We shall be judged by law of the land. But the main verdict comes from the electorate\u201d. Conveniently, forgetting that an electoral victory does not erase a legal wrong.<\/p>\n

Alas, today we live in an era, where public morality and practical politics has acquired a particularly grotesque dimension whereby nine out of ten cases go unreported.\u00a0 Confessed a seasoned politician: Es hamam me hum sab nange hain. Na BJP mein hain danav, na Congresss mein devta. An honest MP is one who is not caught.\u201d<\/p>\n

Arguably, in a milieu wherein large suitcases are proving too small to stuff political skeletons and in the business of democracy where everything comes for a price including politicians, it raises a moot point: How can our lawmakers \u2018sell\u2019 their dignity and honour for money? Worse, there is no remorse on an issue which impinges on the essence, dignity and credibility of Parliament? When will our netagan stop their immoral dhanda? Who is the culprit in whose eyes?<\/p>\n

All in all, the coming days are crucial. The Supreme Court has held a mirror. Time our politicians realize they are expected to be a notch above ordinary mortals. Our netas need to desist from Greed for Power and Power of Greed. Given that when an undataa becomes a saudagar , the aam aadmi\u00a0 is bound to become garib!<\/p>\n

It is in the interest of healthy democracy that unhealthy precedents are not set. Parliamentary democracy can succeed only when rules of the game are followed honestly. Our politicians need to remember a home-truth: Public accountability is indispensable in a democratic set-up. With power comes responsibility.<\/p>\n

On hopes our leaders will now chart a new dimension in upholding the best tenets of Parliamentary morality and probity as elections draw near. Time for our leaders to wake up from their deep slumber of self conceit and deception of money hai to power hai! \u2014 INFA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Court Tells Jan Sewak By Poonam I Kaushish Jan sewaks or swayam sewaks? Public servants we are assert our Right Honourables. But that is only for public consumption. Where gold speaks, their tongues are silent. Politics is a highly lucrative business, which needs no personal capital: only the ability to con the public that you […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-236367","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-features"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236367","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=236367"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236367\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=236367"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=236367"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=236367"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}