Political Diary
New Delhi, 5 March 2024
Court Tells Jan Sewak
NO MORE IMMUNITY
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 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!
Not any more. If the Supreme Court
has its say -- 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.
“We 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,” 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.
Adding, “corruption 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..
Thereby, discounting Articles 105
and 194 which protects MPs and MLAs freedom of speech and shields them from “any
proceedings in any court in respect of anything said or any vote given by him
in the Legislature” 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.
Besides, the 1998 judgment had
created a “paradoxical situation” where a legislator who accepts a bribe and
votes accordingly is protected and a lawmaker who despite taking a bribe votes
independently is prosecuted.
This verdict has its genesis in Circa
July 20, 1993: A CPM MP moves a No Confidence Motion against Narasimha Rao’s
minority Congress Government. The Congress has 251 in a 528 members Lok Sabha,
but it defeats the motion with 265 votes by ‘garnering’ the 14 missing votes.
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.
Circa 1 March 1996: In an iconic speech JMM MP Suraj Mandal
one of those bribed by the Congress states in the Lok Sabha: “Which MP does not
take money… I know the people who have made money from the coal and iron
extracted…taken donations, money in thailis
and gathris… 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?” His speech was heard in pin-drop silence. None protested. How could they? He was only speaking the
truth.
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's). Prior to voting,
large amounts of cash are displayed by three MPs. Predictably, all hell breaks loose.
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.
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’s penultimate day, Working Chairman of the NDA Advani hails the BJP’s
ex-MPs as whistle blowers and declares that if they are guilty, then he too
should be jailed. “I did the sting, arrest me,” he dares.
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 “insufficient evidence.”Wring your hands all you want, but all
thre
e 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.
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.
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, “We 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”. Conveniently, forgetting that an electoral victory does not
erase a legal wrong.
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. 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.”
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 ‘sell’ 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?
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 is bound to become garib!
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.
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! ---- INFA
(Copyright, India News & Feature Alliance)
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