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Political Notes

	August 22, 2005

Bihar Governor lands up in fresh controversy



Bihar Governor Buta Singh has landed up in another controversy by writing a letter to railway minister Lalu Prasad Yadav seeking the transfer of a railway official to a socalled lucrative post in Mumbai. The BJP and other opposition parties have demanded that Buta Singh should be removed as State Governor as free and fair assembly elections are not possible under him.



The Railway officer, Vijay P. Meshram, whose transfer had been sought by Buta Singh, still has a vigilance case pending against him. The post that Meshram wanted - Controller of Stores, Central Railway, is one of the most sought after post in the second largest railway zone, usually marked for those with unimpeachable record. The Controller of Stores has an annual budget of Rs. 550 crores.



While the opposition is demanding Buta Singh’s recall, Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav said that the Governor had no wrong. Buta Singh himself told reporters, “there is no code for Governors which says whether a Governor can write such letters or not.



In a significant development, Governor Buta Singh has stripped his advisor Arun Pathak, considered to be close to Lalu Prasad Yadav, of his official powers. All nine departments allotted to Pathak including the key portfolios of Home, Finance and Power have been taken away from him.

“It had come to my notice that there were certain grey areas in the procedure of moving files by the advisor, and therefore, with a view to reviewing the same, I am withdrawing the work allocated till further “orders”, the Raj Bhavan order said.

Pathak was Chief Secretary when Lalu was Chief Minister in the early 90s. When the hunt for an advisor to the Governor was on, Lalu, it is believed, got Pathak, then retired, back into power.

Pathak has proceeded on long leave in protest against being divested of all powers by the Governor.



Tough anti-hijack policy unveiled



The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) has unveiled a tough anti-hijack policy to be followed by the Government of India. The policy seeks to prevent Kandahar type hijackings and any hijacked plane being used as a missile to target vial installations like the 9/11 terror attack on he united States. The policy comes almost six years after an Indian Airlines flight was hijacked to Kandahar in Afghanistan. The policy provides that the authorities will have power to shoot down a commercial plane if it was hijacked. It rules out any negotiations with the hijackers on meeting any of their demands.

The hijackers would be spoken to only for the release of the passengers, official sources said. If he hijacking took place on Indian soil, the aircraft would be immobilised and not allowed to take off.

According to the policy, if a rogue aircraft paid no heed to ATC warnings and deviated from its specified path or headed towards any strategic spot such as Rashtrapati Bhavan, India Gate or Parliament House, a decision on shooting it down would come into play.

In case of an emergency situation, the shoot down orders could be given by the Prime Minister, the Defence Minister, or the Home Minister, whoever could be contacted first.



Supreme Court notice on Islamic courts



The Supreme Court of India has issued notices to the Union Government, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board and the States of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, West Bengal and Delhi on the attempts to set up a parallel judiciary through Shari’ah courts. A two-judge bench issued the notices while responding to a public interest litigation filed by a Delhi advocate. The petition said “the defiant attitude” of the functionaries of Dar-ul-Ulooms and All India Muslim Personal Law Board was an “open affront” to the judicial system set up under the Constitution of India.

The issue came to prominence after a Shari’ah court decreed that Imrana, allegedly raped by her father-in-laws, should leave her husband’s home and treat him like her son. The AIMPLB upheld the ruling inviting criticism from the BJP and the CPI(M).

The petitioner said AIMPLB had established Darul Qaza (Shari’ah courts) at several places.

Law Minister H.R. Bhardwaj has said that the Constitution does not recognise Islamic courts. There is only one judiciary in the country headed by the Chief Justice of India and every one is bound by its rulings.

The All India Muslim Personal Law Board, on the other hand said that there is nothing wrong with the Shari’ah courts and they help only in reducing the burden of the judiciary. Maulana Kalbe Sadiq, Vice President of the Board said “the expenditure in Darul Qaza was almost nil and it saved a lot of money of the poor Muslim families.” He said that in the last 40 years, no one had approached the Supreme Court against the decision of Darul Qaza and those who approached any other court have found that the decision of the Shari’ah court had been upheld.

The Board is convening a meeting later this week to discuss the response to the Supreme Court notice.

Meanwhile, in another controversial fatwa, (religious decree) Islamic seminary, Darul Uloom Deoband has ruled that Muslim women should not contest elections, and if they must do so, they must do it under veil and cover their faces. The fatwa has been criticised by several sections in the Muslim community as a regressive step.



Women given equal rights in parental property



The Rajya Sabha (Upper House of Parliament) has unanimously passed the landmark Hindu Succession Amendment Bill removing discrimination against women in inheriting property by giving equal rights to Hindu, Buddhist, Jain or Sikh women, including married daughters, in parental property as the sons have. The Bill will now go to the Lok Sabha for consideration and adoption.

Women members who took part in the discussion in the Rajya Sabha described it as a gift after Independence Day. The Bill is based on the recommendation of the Law Commission and aims at removing gender bias in the inheritance of property. Law Minister H.R. Bhardwaj told the House that the Government is examining all such provisions in the laws that promoted gender discrimination to remove them.



Privilege Notice against newspaper rejected



Lok Sabha Ppeaker Somnath Chatterjee has turned down a privilege notice against the Pioneer newspaper for publishing an article casting aspersions on the Chair. But he ruled that the article constituted a gross breach of privilege of the Speaker and also of the House. The Speaker said that he is rejecting the privilege notice as it was beneath the dignity of the Lok Sabha to take further note of the motivated imputations in the impugned article. While closing “this chapter”, he added the caveat that “in future, reckless and contumacious conduct indulged in, by whosoever (it) may be, will be dealt with in the appropriate manner so as to preserve and enhance the dignity of the highest public forum in our country.”



Govt rejects Reuters proposal to provide content services



The Government has shot down a proposal by news agency Reuters India Pvt Ltd (RIPL) to independently provide content services to subscribers in India.

The company had sought permission from the Government to provide content (including media, news and other) services to subscribers in India on the understanding that the clients who have access to the content services would have the discretion whether or not to publish any part of the content provided by RIPL.

Along with this, it had sought deletion of the clause ‘the approval is subject to the condition that the Indian company will not function in the area of media services to newspapers, television and radio.’

The Information and Broadcasting Ministry has clarified to the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) that the operation of foreign news agencies in the country is guided by the Cabinet Decision of 1956, which stipulates that distribution of news within the country is to be effected through an Indian news agency owned and managed by Indians. The Indian agency would have the full and final authority in selection of foreign news and distribution. It would also be in a position to supply Indian news in reasonable volume to the foreign news agencies with whom it would have working arrangement.