The Hindu : 'Government turning Parliament into rubber stamp'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Dec 10, 2003

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'Government turning Parliament into rubber stamp'

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI DEC. 9. The practice of promulgating frequent ordinances came in for criticism in the Lok Sabha today with Opposition members moving statutory resolutions to articulate their disapproval of two ordinances issued in the last inter-session.

Though well aware that their resolutions would be defeated, the Opposition members' contention was that as Parliamentarians they ought to place on record their objection to the manner in which the Government was making a mockery of the legislative process through ordinances.

The introduction of the Representation of the People (Second Amendment) Bill, 2003, and the Delimitation (Amendment) Bill, 2003, by the Law Minister, Arun Jaitley, saw the Opposition members question the Government for using the ordinance route when it had the option of introducing them in Parliament in the monsoon session.

Given that the Election Commission had asked the Government to amend the Representation of the People Act to provide for nomination of district election officers in Union Territories, including Delhi, in June, the Opposition members wondered why the amendment bill was not introduced in the monsoon session. While the two Bills were passed at the end of the day, members were one in pressing for a comprehensive Electoral Reforms Bill to do away with frequent amendments.

Particularly scathing in criticism was Varkala Radhakrishnan of the CPI(M) who said the cardinal principle of a Parliamentary democracy was that laws originate from ``this House.''

Accusing the Government of turning Parliament into a rubber stamp, he said it was unfortunate that this should be happening under an administration headed by Atal Bihari Vajpayee — one of the senior-most members of the House. He along with Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi of the Congress and Basudeb Acharya of the CPI(M) were among those who moved the statutory resolution.

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