M A I L B A G

Governor can’t dissolve an empty House

The Supreme Court has rightly referred the petition against the dissolution of the Bihar Assembly to a five-member Constitution Bench which will hear the case on September 6. On the face of it, Governor Buta Singh should not have dissolved the House in a hurry.

In this context, I fully endorse Dr G.V.G. Krishnamurthy’s views in his article “Elections in Bihar: Can an empty Assembly be dissolved” (July 26). Admittedly, the Governor cannot declare the seats vacant of those MLAs who did not take the oath of office. It is only after they take the oath that the Assembly is duly constituted.

According to Article 174, the Governor summons, prorogues and dissolves the assembly. But in Bihar, it was an “empty House” because not even one of the 243 elected candidates was sworn in.

Consequently, the Governor had no authority to cancel an election and declare the seats vacant. This, in turn, implies that elections cannot be held in Bihar.

SUKHWINDER SINGH MALHI,
Advocate, Kapurthala

II

Dr Krishnamurthy has raised a pertinent question in his article — how can an empty Assembly be dissolved?

The Bihar Governor had asked the Centre to dissolve a House which was not in existence and was yet to be constituted. Thus, the Supreme Court has rightly referred the petition against its dissolution to a five-member Constitution Bench.

In the S.R. Bommai case, the Supreme Court ruled that “if the Governor fails to summon the House, it is an empty Assembly”. What did then Governor Buta Singh dissolve?

I feel Dr Kalam should sack the erring Governor by invoking Article 156 of the Constitution which states that “the Governor shall hold office during the pleasure of the President”.

S.S. JAIN, Chandigarh

Book erring officers Nothing could be more heinous than the supply of rotten eatables to the unsuspecting and vulnerable children of Anganwadis in Bathinda district. The way the whole episode is being hushed up needs to be condemned. The poor Anganwadi workers who dared to expose the sordid affair are being punished. Cases have been registered against the manufacturers, suppliers of the eatables who have been made scapegoats to shield the officers concerned. In any civilised society, adulteration of eatables and dereliction of duty are considered serious crimes deserving harsh penalties. The erring officers should not be allowed to go scot free. Dr AMRIT SETHI, Bathinda

C.R. Irani

As a reader of The Statesman for over three decades, I feel C.R. Irani, who passed away recently, proved himself to be a superior soul, particularly after he began working his column “Caveat”. It was a joy reading him hitting out all the powers that be — in Kolkata, New Delhi and anywhere in the world. He did not spare the high and the mighty.

The best tribute to C.R. Irani will be for The Statesman to publish his Caveat column in a book form to serve students of journalism and mass communication.

SANJEEV GAUR, Chandigarh

Use of drugs

Patients use drugs in a slipshod manner. Sometimes, the patient does not know about the proper use of drugs. And doctors do not tell the patient about the drug at all. For instance, when the doctor does not advice the patient on the use of tetracycline with milk, it leads to improper use of the drug and consequent side effects.

Doctors should clearly tell the patients about the pros and cons of the drugs, their dosage and proper usage which the patients must comply with.

AMAN DEEP SINGH,
Raikot

Excess fare

Private buses running between Rehan and Indora charge excess fare from the passengers. For instance, when I had travelled by a bus from Rehan to Bhola Da Talahu very recently, the conductor charged me Rs 10 instead of Rs 8. The RTO, Dharamshala should look into the matter.

Dr RAJAN MALHOTRA, Rehan