TOUCHSTONE describing in As You Like It the steps preparatory to a quarrel, listed them progressively as: the retort churlish, the reproof valiant, the countercheck quarrelsome, the lie with circumstances, and only finally the lie direct. In what has come to be known as the licence scandal no such progressive restraints seemed necessary. Such was the confusion generated by the Government’s making light of a serious matter of public propriety and the Opposition’s making things hot for the Treasury Benches. Much of the high drama that both Houses of Parliament saw during the last few weeks could have been avoided had the Government not resorted to teasing tactics to outmanoeuvre the Opposition. But ultimately it has turned out to be a futile exercise. The Government climbed down bit by bit, but the more it showed signs of relenting the more difficult became the Opposition to handle. It took many histrionic acts to make the Prime Minister come out with an offer that was perhaps a reasonable way out of the impasse. There was the indomitable Morarji Desai holding out his satyagraha threat. There was Mr Shamim who said that they should not make the CBI another "sacred cow". "If you want," he added, "I will give you a copy of the report to you and place it on the table of the House…I have got it." Mr Shamim’s claim went unchallenged. Then there was Mr Vajpayee who threw a bombshell. He wants to resign from the Lok Sabha because he feels that "the highest legislative body representing sovereignty of the Indian people has been reduced to a mere rubber stamp to serve the ends of the majority party."
