New Delhi, March 11
Steering clear of a confrontation with the Supreme Court, the Congress-led UPA government decided against making a Presidential reference to the Supreme Court on its intervention in advancing the Jharkhand trust vote.
After a high power meeting at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s residence in the forenoon today attended by UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and other heavyweights, the government affirmed that all concerned should abide and respect the Supreme Court’s order.
A distraught Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, who had made the suggestion last night after an extended and emergent all-party meeting minus the BJP, refused to comment on the Manmohan Singh government’s decision observing curtly that it was in the domain of the Executive.
Feeling rebuffed at a Presidential Reference being put in cold storage for restoring “Constitutional balance,” Mr Chatterjee instantly convened a meeting of Presiding Officers of state legislatures on March 20 to discuss the relations between the three organs of the State — Parliament, Judiciary and the Executive.
Lok Sabha sources stressed that Mr Chatterjee was greatly disturbed by the Supreme Court’s
order. The meeting of Presiding Officers will discuss how to ensure that the three organs of the State do not set themselves on a collision course in the wake of what is described in certain political establishments as “excessive judicial activism far beyond its powers.”
The Speaker firmly believes that the Centre should make the Presidential Reference as the views expressed by him yesterday were those of most of the non-NDA political parties in Parliament.
The Left parties are in the forefront that the time has come for the powers of the three organs of the State to be clearly outlined without any ambiguity. A section in the Congress also holds the view that the Judiciary has overstretched itself in the Jharkhand imbroglio in violation of the Constitution.
Emerging from the meeting at the Prime Minister’s residence, Onion Law and Justice Minister H.R. Bhardwaj maintained that “it is our duty to abide by the order of the Supreme Court. We cannot run away from this duty.”
Clearly, the UPA government which has been under sustained attack by the Opposition for the unsavoury goings on in Jharkhand where the Assembly and Chief Minister Shibu Soren failed to go through the motions of seeking a vote of confidence in Ranchi today as directed by the Supreme Court, refrained from opening another front and laying itself bare to a fresh assault of murdering democracy.
On its part, the NDA, which stormed out of the all -party meeting yesterday, said Mr Chatterjee had overstepped his jurisdiction by convening such a conclave to discuss the Supreme Court’s order on the Jharkhand issue.
“The Speaker has no power to discuss any matter related to a legislative assembly,” insisted NDA leaders, who met in the Parliament House chamber of the leader of the Opposition L.K. Advani.
Some leaders went to the extent of suggesting that a no confidence motion should be brought against the Speaker. Should this happen it will be an unprecedented move. Simultaneously, the NDA adopted a resolution that it would stoutly oppose any effort by the Manmohan Singh government to seek a Presidential Reference on the Jharkhand issue.
The resolution accused the UPA government at the Centre and Jharkhand Governor Syed Sibtey Razi of playing a partisan role by installing a minority government in the first instance which amounted to subversion of the Constitution. The Supreme Court cannot be a silent spectator this subversion.
BJP Parliamentary party spokesman Vijay Kumar Malhotra held the UPA government and the Prime Minister in particular responsible for the events in Jharkhand. His party colleague and stratregist Pramod Mahajan explained that the NDA has several options including raising the issue vociferously in Parliament and starting a peoples’ agitation.
A major ally of the UPA, the CPI (M) criticised the BJP for walking out of the Speaker’s meeting yesterday. “It is unfortunate that the BJP has ascribed motives to the near consensus arrived at the all-party meeting which found the Supreme Court ruling disturbing.” They wanted specific clarification from a Presidential Reference as to who is the custodian of the House — the Supreme Court, the Judiciary or the Speaker.
Certain Congress leaders and constitutional experts had sought to draw the leadership’s attention to what they categorised as a dangerous situation arising from the Supreme Court’s order in Jharkhand. In their opinion the
Constitution has clearly delineated the powers of the legislature and the Judiciary.
Some suggestions made was to take strong remedial measures in Parliament which is supreme or getting the pro-tem Speaker of the Jharkhand assembly and chief minister Shibu Soren to resign in protest against the interference of the Apex Court.
After intense discussions, the Manmohan Singh government refrained from complicating matters and exhorted everyone to abide and respect the order of the Supreme Court. Alas, that was not to be in in the fledgling state of Jharkhandm as evidenced by the unruly
happenings in the assembly during the day.
