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Political Notes

	October 04, 2004

SC notice to Lalu Yadav, Rabri

The Supreme Court on October 1 issued notices to Union Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav and Bihar Chief Minister Rabri Devi on a petition seeking cancellation of their bail in fodder scam cases alleging that they have been interfering with the investigation and trial. A bench comprising Justice S.N. Variava and Justice H.K. Sema also issued notices to the Union Government and CBI on the petition filed by BJP MP Sushil Kumar Modi and Janata Dal (United) MP Rajiv Ranjan Singh ‘Lalan’ and asked all the respondents to file their responses within two weeks.

Appearing for the petitioners, Senior Advocate Mukul Rohtagi alleged that after the new government, of which the RJD is a coalition partner, came to power at the centre, concerted efforts were made to scuttle the probe and trial in the fodder scam cases by changing the investigating officers and public prosecutors as Lalu Prasad (Railway Minister) is a key accused in the scam. He also alleged that the income tax appellate authority at Patna quashed the claims running into lakhs of rupees of the IT Department against Lalu Prasad in a “suspicious” and “hurried” manner.

“By virtue of the new political equations between the RJD and the UPA government at the Centre, Prasad, one of the main accused in the fodder scam cases, has now substantial administrative control and political say in the functioning of the government at the centre and publicly claims to be in a position to destabilise it at will,” they said.



Manmohan favours bringing PM under Lok Pal

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has favoured bringing all elected representatives, including the PM, under the purview of the Lok Pal Bill. Delivering the valedictory address at the eighth All-India Lok Ayukt/Lok Pal Conference at the Forest Research Institute at Dehradun, Singh said the very existence of a Lok Ayukt helped generate a feeling of assurance among the public at large that they had a mechanism to fall back upon when faced with corrupt public servants.

The Prime Minister conceded that the absence of an institution such as the Lok Pal at the Centre was, to some extent, adversely affecting the working of Lok Ayukt institutions at the State level. The Common Minimum Programme of the United Progressive Alliance had made a commitment to enacting the Lok Pal Bill at the Centre, he said and promised to take effective action in this regard at the earliest.

Dr. Manmohan Singh also agreed that constitutional status should be given to Lok Ayukts. “I see great merit in this proposal. However, before granting such status, there is a need to objectively assess the performance of these institutions. The selection process of Lok Ayukts has to be made sufficiently robust and impartial to inspire confidence among the people. Lok Ayukts also need to evolve procedures for carrying on business, which should be systematic, speedy and effective.”

The issue of Lok Pal has again come to the fore with both President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh having expressed their willingness for inclusion of their high offices within the ambit of the ombudsman. Dr Kalam and Dr Singh are known for their honesty and unimpeachable integrity and their speeches at the All-India Conference of Lok Ayukts demonstrate their determination to cleanse the system of various ills by setting personal examples.

Unfortunately, the issue has been hanging fire since 1966 when the Administrative Reforms Commission was set up under the chairmanship of Morarji Desai who later became Prime Minister during Janata Party rule after the Emergency in India. In 1968, the Lok Pal Bill was passed in the Lok Sabha, but it could not become a law because the Lok Sabha’s term had ended by then. Between 1971 and 1985, three attempts were made to pass the Bill. For the first time, the office of Prime Minister was included in its purview during the V.P. Singh regime. Since 1989, it has been tabled four times, the last in 2002.



Cabinet nod for Commission for backward sections among minorities

The Union Cabinet has approved the constitution of a National Commission for the welfare of the socially and economically backward sections among the religious and linguistic minorities. The decision is seen as Part II of the policy blitzkrieg; the first part was announced on September 17, as part of Dr. Manmohan Singh’s strategy to impart a new policy impetus to his Government. The next round is expected to be decided upon at a Cabinet meeting on October 5.

With this, the United Progressive Alliance Government is seen as having begun the process of implementing a promise made in the National Common Minimum Programme. The section on “Social Harmony, Welfare of Minorities” in the NCMP held out a promise to “establish a National Commission to see how best the welfare of socially and economically backward sections among the religious and linguistic minorities, including reservation in education and employment, is enhanced.”

Information and Broadcasting Minister Jaipal Reddy said the Commission would have a three-fold mandate. First, to suggest the criteria for identification of the socially, economically backward sections among the religious and linguistic minorities. Second, it will recommend measures for the welfare of such identified backward sections, including reservation in education and government employment. Third, it will suggest the necessary constitutional, legal, and administrative modalities required to implement the recommendations.

Reddy said the Commission was expected to give its report by March 31, 2005. The names of the chairperson and the members would be announced later.

The opposition party in Parliament, BJP, has raised strong objection to the Government move to set up a Commission to look into the issue of reservation in education and employment for the socially and educationally backward sections among the linguistic and religious minorities.

“Such a move will hurt the process of national integration and unity in the country,” the BJP spokesperson Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, said. “The Congress has done this purely for political gains. It has adopted the politics of vote-banks and appeasement [of minorities],” he added.



CBI undertakes massive raids

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) conducted nation-wide raids at 147 places against corrupt public servants and booked 190 persons including 63 government officials in different cases. The agency also detected cash, jewellery and shares worth around Rs 9 crores during these raids.

A whoping cash recovery of Rs 40 lakh was allegedly made from the residence of one Janardhan Prasad Singh, a steno of the chief engineer of the Eastern Central Railway at Vaishali, Hajipur in Bihar. The government officials who were booked following the raids included general manager of the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited, Maharashtra Circle, Vasai, Thane, an additional commissioner of income tax in Jaipur, additional commissioner (revenue) of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, divisional manager of the United India Insurance at Bharatpur and a medical superintendent of the Rajasthan Atomic Power Station Hospital. “In all, 65 cases were registered against 190 people including 127 private individuals. The highest number of raids was conducted in Chennai (at 20 places) followed by Mumbai and Delhi ( at 13 places each), Kolkata (11), Jodhpur (seven), Trivandrum (three) and Bangalore (two),” CBI Director U.S. Misra, told reporters.

Listing the highlights of the ongoing operation against corrupt persons, Misra said the main thrust of these raids had been officers of doubtful integrity of the revenue and taxation departments. Stamp scamster Abdul Karim Telgi had yet another case registered against him when the CBI on Wednesday booked him for allegedly obtaining a duplicate passport on the basis of forged papers.



Recovery of explosives from scrap

Explosive shells continue to be unearthed at the scrap yard at Ghaziabad near Delhi where a blast killed ten labourers on September 30. The Uttar Pradesh Government called in the Indian Army, which found 18 more rockets. Over 70 shells have already recovered from the scrap. A team of Army’s explosive experts are engaged in the task of scanning eight truck-loads of material for the explosives. So far, twelve trucks have been unloaded and scanned.

Police officials said the consignment was the residue of military armament sold by Iran to Bhushan Steel Company as scrap. “The scrap included unexploded mortar and rocket shells which were apparently treated as waste”, a senior police officer said, adding the sellers apparently did not take care of defusing or exploding the shells which contained gunpowder.