Saswat Panigrahi
The Manmohan Singh Cabinet last week gave an unceremonious
burial to the controversial Ordinance as well as a related Bill meant to
protect the convicted lawmakers. A shameless Congress, which had sought to
provide immunity to convicted lawmakers, may take high moral ground on the
overturn of the Cabinet decision. But the fact of the matter is both the
Congress and the Government were caught red handed with their pants down. They
had no choice but to withdraw the said Ordinance and the Bill.
The overturning of the
Cabinet decision came in the face of mounting pressure from the Opposition
parties, especially the BJP, and a growing public opinion against the
unconstitutional and morally wrong measure. The Supreme Court in its July 10
judgement had held that lawmakers convicted in criminal cases, with
imprisonment of two years or more, would face immediate disqualification. To
subvert the Supreme Court judgement, the Government had introduced the
Representation of the People (Second Amendment) Bill, 2013 in Rajya Sabha.
The intent of the Congress
Government was quite clear. It was trying to protect the likes of Rashid Masood
and Lalu Prasad Yadav. The Bill was referred to the Standing Committee of
Parliament. Even though, the Bill was pending before the Standing Committee,
the Government in an utter haste issued an Ordinance. It was approved by the
Congress core committee headed by Sonia Gandhi and cleared by the Manmohan
Singh Cabinet after much deliberation. Then it was forwarded for the assent of
the President.
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