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Political Notes |
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Legislature-Judiciary confrontation on expulsion of MPs
Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee has said that the courts have no jurisdiction on expulsion of MPs from Parliament. He said in New Delhi that he would not respond to any judicial notices in the matter.
Chatterjee has called an all-party meeting on Jan. 20 to discuss the situation arising from the Delhi High Court serving notices to the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha Secretariats on the petition filed by nine of the 11 MPs expelled in the Cash-for-Questions scam. Raising question on the legality of the Parliament decision, the court admitted the petition on the ground that privileges of Parliament have to flow from the Constitution, and the Constitution does not provide for expulsion.
Question mark on Congress-JD(S) coalition in Karnataka
Former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda has said that the Janata Dal (Secular) national executive will decide on February 8 whether to continue in or withdraw from the coalition government with the Congress in Karnataka. He told newspersons in New Delhi on Jan. 9 that the coalition had come under severe stress after the Congress decided to explore the possibility of aligning with the JDS rebels led by former Deputy Chief Minister Siddharamaih in district panchayat elections. He said, “the JD(S) joined with the Congress to form the Government after the last Assembly elections to check the growth of communal forces in the state. We came to some understanding. Now the Congress has decided to deviate from it. We will assess the situation at various levels and take a decision at the national executive meeting. I will meet Congress president Sonia Gandhi after the meeting and convey the party’s decision.”
States asked to beef up anti-Naxalite operations
The Centre has asked the states to draw up action plans focussing on intensification of police operations to effectively counter inter-state operations of Naxalites. The Centre’s direction came at a meeting of the Coordination Committee on Naxal violence chaired by Union Home Secretary V.K. Duggal in New Delhi on Jan. 13. The meeting was attended by the Chief Secretaries and Directors General of Police of the Naxalite-affected states. The meeting noticed that thee was a four per cent increase in Naxal violence.
The Centre said it is setting up a separate wing to regularly monitor Naxalite activities and further strengthen state police organisations. Ten additional India Reserve battalions will be provided to the Naxal affected states.
Notice to UP Chief Minister on disproportionate assets
The Supreme Court has issued notices to the Centre and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav and his family members on a public interest litigation alleging that they had amassed wealth and property disproportionate to their known sources of income by misusing their power and authority. The petition filed by one Vishwanath Chaturvedi seeks a direction to the Centre to probe the allegations and initiate criminal prosecution against the Chief Minister and members of his family. The petition alleges that corruption has increased to monstrous dimensions in Uttar Pradesh under Mulayam Singh Yadav’s rule.
Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh, however, alleged that the PIL has been masterminded by the Congress in its attempt to harass the Samajwadi Party leaders.
Grenades found in Golden Temple, Amritsar
More than 114 powerful grenades have been found near the Guru Nanak Niwas in the Golden Temple complex in Amritsar. The Niwas had once been occupied by slain militant leader Jarnail Singh Bhindrawale who was killed in Operation Bluestar in 1984. Workers found the grenades during work for the construction of a new administrative block of the Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee.
SGPC officials said that while the structure had been built long before Bluestar, its concrete floor had been put in 20 years ago which, they surmise, is when the grenades must have been stowed away. Though arms and ammunition have been found in the Golden Temple complex before, this is the biggest haul so far. Around six years ago, SGPC authorities came across cartridges and pistols in the holy pond near the Baba Atal Gurudwara.
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