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Human trafficking : Parliament tackles the “enemy” within

	April 30, 2007

Apart from facing the problem of the Judiciary ‘intervening’ in matters claimed to be within the sphere of the legislature and the executive, Parliament was also face to face last week with the problem of errant Members involved in human trafficking. Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee held an all-party meeting on April 25 with the objective of drawing up a strategy and course of action to restore the image and dignity of Parliament dented by incidents like BJP MP Babubhai Katara’s arrest in the human trafficking case. But the meeting failed to reach a consensus as the BJP was against sending the matter to the Ethics Committee. The Speaker is calling another all-party meeting this week to decide on a single course of action to restore the image and dignity of Parliament.



The proposal of referring the Katara case, as well as those of the other MPs, who have been called for interrogation for alleged involvement in human trafficking, to the Ethics Committee or the Disciplinary Committee of the Lok Sabha, was shot down by the BJP. Other parties, including the Left, are in favour of taking “strong action” against the MP for misusing privileges granted to him as a Member of Parliament.



However, the Ethics Committee is likely to be asked to evolve a new set of guidelines to keep the flock from straying in future.



Chatterjee also asserted that though there was no question of burying the issue, it was not proper to “paint everyone with the same brush”-a line of action that found support from Parliamentary Affairs Minister P R Dasmunsi. Since the issue has got international attention much to everyone’s embarrassment, sources said the Government was keen that “some visible action” was taken against the erring MP, Babubhai Katara.



Senior BJP leader V K Malhotra said, “We also want strong action. But why should this case be singled out for referring to the Ethics Committee. All other cases, including those of MPs and Ministers who are behind bars but have not resigned from Parliament (implying Shibu Soren, Md Shahabuddin and Pappu Yadav), should be looked into by the parliamentary committee. There has to be a uniformity of approach.”



By raising the issue of tainted MPs, the BJP, otherwise on a backfoot over Katara’s arrest, managed to ward off immediate reference of the case to the Ethics/Disciplinary Committee that could inevitably lead to expulsion of the MP.



On Thursday, April 26, the Speaker requested Katara, now in police custody, not to attend the House until party leaders decided on the further course of action.



On behalf of the Lok Sabha, Chatterjee condemned Katara’s behaviour as soon as the House convened for the post-recess budget session.



Referring to his meeting with the leaders of various parties on Wednesday, the Speaker said it was unanimously agreed that “the House should not only express its concern but also condemn the commission of the alleged offence by the member.”



He added: “The House is distressed and expresses its firm determination to take all necessary action so that its dignity is not tarnished.”



BJP leader V.K. Malhotra said his party concurred with the views of the House on this matter but would like Parliament to adopt a standard that would apply equally to all.





Congress spokesman Abhishek Singhvi dwelt on yet another grievous wrongdoing involving the BJP Governments in Gujarat and Rajasthan in an alleged fake encounter case.



The “shocking facts” were that Sohrabuddin Sheikh and his wife Kausar were forcibly taken off a bus, taken to a farmhouse and then murdered. Singhvi said the encounter was a ``fig leaf’’ for glorifying Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, for the police declared that the slain man had plans to assassinate him.





More MPs involved in human trafficking



As more information about the scandal comes to light, there are reports that several more MPs and MLAs may be involved in the human smuggling racket. Police have put at least four more MPs, apart from Babubhai Katara, and five MLAs under the scanner. These MPs and MLAs mostly belong to Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. Sources say that they were closely associated with a Hyderabad travel agent, Rashid Ali, one of the main accused in the case.



Delhi Police have summoned four MPs for questioning in connection with the human trafficking scam. They are Ashok Rawat, Mitrasen Yadav, Ram Swaroop Koli and Mohd. Tahir Khan. Three of them belong to the BSP and one to the BJP.



Andhra Pradesh which has emerged a hub of the scam is probing 150 VIPs including chairmen of corporations and IT executives, said State CID chief Umapathy.





Delhi Police have sent teams to Punjab, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, where many of the travel agents are based, and Uttar Pradesh. Several fake passports have been seized at various places in the country, including 12 seized from Babubhai Katara’s residence. More than 30 passports have been seized in Jalandhar.



While the BJP has suspended Babubhai Katara from the party, BSP chief Mayawati has ruled out disciplinary action against its MPs whose names have cropped up in the human trafficking case. She alleged that it was a conspiracy hatched by political opponents.





TRS virtually splits on trafficking issue



The worst political impact of the human trafficking scandal is on the Telangana Rashtriya Samithi (TRS) which has been working for the creation of a separate Telangana state to be carved out of Andhra Pradesh. The party has suspended A. Narendra, the No.2 in the party hierarchy and former Union Minister, for alleged links to the racket. Narendra on his part has accused the TRS chief of human trafficking. He said in Hyderabad on April 26 that TRS president K. Chandrashekhara Rao and five other TRS leaders were involved in sending several people from Gujarat abroad on fake documents.



Hitting out at KCR, Narendra said, “KCR had recommended US visas for five Gujarati girls. Later he arranged visas for two more people from Gujarat. These people are still in the US.”



According to him, MPs Madhusudan Reddy and Ravindra Naik had also sent Gujaratis abroad on fake passports. “I have concrete documents to prove the charges,” said Narendra.



Narendra said that while he had known about the racket for a while, he had not spoken about it earlier as he “did not want to slow down the pace of the Telangana movement.” Reacting to KCR’s allegations, he said, “The charges against me are baseless. Let the police investigate. They will see that I was not involved.”



Police officials, meanwhile, said they would not be filing a case against Narendra as no “conclusive proof” had been found.



Meanwhile, TRS MLA Kasipeta Lingaiah, whom police were booking for an emigration racket, surrendered before a court in Hyderabad, on Friday, April 27. He was remanded to judicial custody till May 11.



Lingaiah had earlier gone underground in the wake of reports accusing him of securing a passport for a woman in his wife’s name. He described the whole affair as a ploy by TRS president Chandrashekhara Rao to implicate and embarrass all nine dissident MLAs, including him.





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The Hall of Shame



125 MPs have criminal cases against them



The involvement of Babubhai Katara and four other MPs in human trafficking has turned the focus back on the fact that the 14th Lok Sabha has the largest ever number of lawmakers with criminal records.



Apart from MPs from states like Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttaranchal, who have no criminal charges against them, every other state has a few parliamentarians with criminal case against them. These include minor offences and even major crimes like murder, rape and dacoity.



Data prepared by the India Chapter of Social Watch shows that 125 of the 538 MPs have criminal cases pending against them.



While 62 of these MPs have been named in minor cases, mostly of a political nature, the rest have been booked for serious crimes that could led to jail terms of five years or more.



Recently, a parliamentary committee had rejected the Election Commission’s proposal to ban persons accused of serious criminal offences and where the court is prime facie convinced about their involvement in the crime from contesting elections till they are cleared of such charges.



The Social Watch data, tabulated from affidavits admitted by MPs to the EC and later to Parliament, also shows that all major political parties have members with criminal antecedents.