Political Diary
New Delhi, 29 March 2013
Yawn, Another Sarkari JPC
WILL IT TOO
BOOMERANG?
By Poonam I Kaushish
Phew, the first half of the action-packed Budget session of
Parliament is over. The DMK withdrew support over India’s stand vis-à-vis the UN resolution on Human
Rights violation in Sri Lanka, the path-breaking anti-Rape Law was passed, Union Steel Minister and
ex-Samajwadi Beni Prasad Verma took pot shots at his erstwhile boss Mulayam.
Amidst this hungama,
anyone remember a JPC set-up to probe the controversial Rs 3,700 crore Westland
helicopter deal for paying Rs 362 crores as bribes? That too, when the CBI has
already charge-sheeted five, including former Air Chief Tyagi. Raising a
moot point: Will this unravel who got the bribes? Given that five earlier JPC
achieved zilch. Yawn!
Notwithstanding, a rare instance when the Government
upstaged the Opposition taking the wind out of its sails by cutting deals with
‘outside allies’ BSP, Samajwadi and CPM. Unlike the past when all five JPCs, on
2G spectrum, Bofors gun, Harshad Mehta stock market scam, were reluctantly
formed only after the Government was pushed to a corner by an aggressive
Opposition.
Questionably, why did the Congress volunteer to set up a JPC
and Opposition oppose it? What’s changed since an obstinate BJP stalled
Parliament’s 2010 winter session demanding a JPC on 2G and the UPA resisted it?
How can the JPC submit a report within three months when the Italian Government
refuses to share information especially post the marines’ fiasco. Why the
duplicity, JPC and CBI probe?
It stands to reason that by constituting a JPC the Congress
can successfully draw wool on peoples’ eyes and put the issue on a back-burner.
As it has done for one year since the scam broke but was forced to act when Italy arrested
Finmeccanica’s CEO for bribery and got the CBI to register a case. Time enough
for the bribe takers to destroy evidence.
Besides, the JPC cannot submit a report within three months bereft
of substantive information on nailing the recipient. Other Committees experience
shows the earliest it can arrive at any conclusion is a year. By then the current
Lok Sabha’s term would expire, thus a futile exercise and a drain on the tax-payers
money.
Further, the case involves extradition and custodial
interrogation of accused foreigners which the JPC can’t do as it doesn’t have
these powers, leaving it ineffective. Smacking of a political cover-up. With
the Italians playing hard ball to think our MPs can find the bribe-takers is
far-fetched. There is no evidence it can
call for at this stage.
Think. The on-going experience of the JPC proceedings in the
2G case show our netas responses are
determined more on pre-meditated political lines than on merit. See how
Chairman Chacko is dragging his feet on allowing ex-Telecom Minister and main
accused Raja to appear as witness and testify before the Committee by using the
majority muscle.
On the fallacious plea that he enjoys legal protection and
cannot make fresh revelations before any Committee Understandable, as Raja’s
appearance would snowball into Opposition demands for summoning Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister Chidambaram.
The issue is simple: Will the JPC unearth the truth?
Theoretically it might but in practice no. Simply because if the UPA has its
hand in the till, so did the NDA before it. As these two have the maximum MPs
in the JPC, how can one ask a murderer to prove his own guilt? One has to
appoint a public prosecutor to do that. Similarly, neither the Congress nor BJP
can accuse and prove the other took bribes. The cause célèbre why the five JPCs failed to apportion blame.
Perhaps, this one too will reach the same conclusion. Till
then, one can only keep fingers crossed and hope that the JPC unravels the helicopter
scam. Sadly, the experience and outcome of the four earlier Committees show there
is not much one can look forward to, in fact all botched in establishing what
happened, failed to identify and punish those culpable.
Recall, the first JPC on the Bofors deal was instituted in
August 1987 after the Opposition stalled Parliament for 45 days but boycotted the
Committee alleging it was packed with Congress MPs. Predictably, its report was
also rejected. The second Committee to probe the Harshad Mehta irregularities
in securities and banking transactions in July 1992, recommendations too were
neither accepted in full nor implemented.
The third JPC assigned to probe the Ahmedabad-based
cooperative bank, Madhavpura Mercantile Cooperative Bank’s big exposure to the
stock market through the “K-factor” nee Ketan Parekh in April 2001 held 105
sittings. But the Government did not accept the sweeping changes in stock
market regulations made by the Committee and also diluted many of its
suggestions.
The fourth JPC constituted in August 2003 to look into
pesticide residues in soft drinks, fruit juice and set safety standards
confirmed that soft drinks did have pesticide residues. It recommended
stringent norms for drinking water, alas, nothing came of this too. The 2G JPC
is the fifth and is expected to submit its report in six months.
Undeniably, the JPCs’ recommendations have persuasive value
but the Committee cannot force the Government to take any action on the basis
of its report. It is entirely the Executive’s prerogative and discretion to
launch fresh investigations on the basis of a Committee’s findings. The Government
is only required to report on the “follow-up action” taken on the JPC’s recommendations.
These reports can be discussed in Parliament and the Government can be
questioned on the basis of the same.
What next? Importantly, for any JPC to unearth the truth, its
Chairman should be an Opposition leader. Simultaneously, the CBI investigations
should be under the Supreme Court’s supervision with a fixed time-frame to
unearth the truth. Three, the JPC must have the powers to summon the Prime
Minister and Ministers to Committee hearings, as in the UK, which could
be gainful.
But see the absurdity. The Parliament is sovereign. It
allows even the dumbest of MPs the right to ask the Prime Minister a question
and he has per force to answer. Yet he
cannot be summoned or questioned by a JPC investigating a case of national
importance.
There is no gainsaying, with an impatient people and general
elections a year away the UPA and pet poodle CBI must desist from its 'flex
muscle-go-slow-and-stop' reputation and turn a new leaf. It must obtain timely
responses on letters rogatory, follow money trails through hawala networks to the end, book middlemen who have bagged illegal
profits irrespective of their power and influence.
Clearly, the time has come to fix accountability in the
helicopter scam. The country’s security cannot be short-changed and military
modernisation must not become a casualty of corruption. The coming days are crucial. One hopes the
JPC will help erase some of UPA II’s sleaze taint and restore the people faith
in our Parliamentary system. Will the Government adhere to its vow Satya Meve Jayete? ----- INFA
(Copyright,
India News and Feature Alliance)
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