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Political Notes

	January 22, 2007

Tamil Nadu for new Constitution



In the wake of the Supreme Court judgement on its power to review the validity of laws included in the Ninth Schedule, Tamil Nadu has demanded that the Constitution be re-written to transfer more powers to the states.



State Governor Surjit Singh Barnala outlined the plea in his customary address to the fourth session of the State Assembly : “In the last 50 years, our nation’s political, social and economic facets and the needs of the working class have radically changed. Today, people belonging to the Backward, Most Backward, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes have been forced to do tight rope walk to defend their hard-won rights and to ensure due social justice including minority and gender rights.”



“The need for transfer of more powers to states by reviewing the division of powers between the States and the Union to ensure that true and wholesome federalism prevails and the wheels of social justice revolve without any hindrance is increasing day by day. Hence this government urges the Union Government that the Constitution of India should be rewritten afresh, having regard to the changing needs, while preserving the unity, integrity and sovereignty of the nation,” the Governor said.





New Governors for Nagaland and Chhattisgarh



Former Kerala Finance Minister K. Sankaranarayan will be the new Governor of Nagaland. He will take over from Shyamal Dutta whose term ends on Jan. 27. Former Intelligence Bureau Director E.S.L. Narasimhan has been appointed Governor of Chhattisgarh.





Supreme Court orders recovery of rent arrears from VIPs



The Supreme Court has asked the Centre to file an action taken report (ATR) on recovery of rent arrears from VVIPs. The defaulters include three general secretaries of the Congress party which heads the UPA Government at the Centre.



Though the bungalows have been allotted in the name of general secretaries, the premises are actually used as offices of the Youth Congress, Congress Seva Dal and a party functionary, Urban Development Ministry said.



Among other defaulters are Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh and former Union Minister Jaswant Singh in the BJP-led NDA Government.



“What steps have been taken to recover the penal rent ?” asked a Supreme Court Bench comprising Justices B.N.Aggarwal and P.P. Naolekar after going through the affidavit filed by the Urban Development Ministry.





Congress MP asked to prove nationality



Raising serious doubts over the nationality of Congress MP from Tezpur, in Assam, Mani Kumar Subba, the Supreme Court has asked him to prove that he was an Indian citizen. In its direction on Friday, Jan. 19, a bench headed by Chief Justice of India K.G. Balakrishnan, also pulled up the CBI for failing to give a clear finding on Subba’s nationality. “Show your identity. Where were you born ? Where did you study ? You must be having date of birth certificate or school certificates or any other document in support of your claim of being an Indian,” the Bench sought to know from senior counsel A.M. Singhvi, who represented Subba.



Maintaining that under the Citizenship Act, it was for the person accused of being a foreign national to prove otherwise, it directed Subba to produce within six weeks whatever documents he had in support of his claim of being an Indian citizen.



The court was hearing a PIL, filed in 2005, by one Birendra Nath Singh, who accused Subba of crossing over to India and illegally acquiring Indian citizenship after being convicted in a murder case in Nepal in the 1970s.





Violence in Bangalore on Saddam Hussein’s execution



Violence rocked Bangalore on Friday, Jan. 19 during a protest organised by former Union Minister and president of the People’s Front C.K. Jaffer Sharief against the execution of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. Jaffer Sharief demanded that the United Nations should shift its headquarters from New York to a third world country. He said Saddam Hussein’s execution by what he called a kangaroo court had shocked the conscience of those who trusted and respected peace.