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Political Notes

	April 04, 2005

Centre to continue to invoke Article 356



The Centre has indicated that it would continue with its current policy of invoking Article 356 of the Constitution for imposing President’s Rule in a state. The reiteration of the Centre’s stand came during the meeting of the Standing Committee of the Inter-state Council in New Delhi on March 29. Briefing reporters about the deliberations, Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil said there was a consensus among political parties that the provision in the Constitution needed to be retained, but should be used sparingly. Observers say that the Government stand amounts to virtual rejection of one of the key recommendations of the Sarkaria Commission on Centre-State relations that safeguards provided in the Supreme Court judgement in the S.R. Bommai Case be incorporated in the Constitution. The Government stand appears to be that incorporation of the safeguards may increase practical difficulties in future.



BJP snaps ties with AIADMK in Tamil Nadu



The BJP in Tamil Nadu, at long last, has decided to end its honeymoon with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa’s All India Anna DMK after a lot of wavering over the issue. The party’s state unit announced on March 31 that it had severed links with the AIADMK and that the party would face the coming Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu on its own. BJP state secretary Pon Radhakrishnan said in Madurai, “There is no alliance with the AIADMK and we are alone in Tamil Nadu.” He said that the BJP may emerge as the rallying platform for a third front as the people of Tamil Nadu are sick of both the DMK and the AIADMK. He said these parties are wasting their energies on mutual acrimony and are not doing anything for the state. Radhakrishnan pointed out that both the Dravidian parties are busy blaming each other for delaying or sabotaging the projects meant for Tamil Nadu rather than taking any concrete action to improve the conditions in the state.



Tamil Nadu Speaker directed to stand trial in corruption case



The Supreme Court has upheld the Madras High Court order directing Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker K. Kalimuthu to face trial in a two decade old corruption case. Disposing off special leave petitions filed by Kalimuthu and others, a Supreme Court Bench said that they do not find any infirmity in the Madras High Court order. The Bench said that as the matter had been pending for a long time, the trial court would do well to decide it expeditiously. The charge by the CBI against Kalimuthu and others is that they conspired to help cheating by impersonation, forgery and falsification of accounts. Kalimuthu was Culture Minister in the M.G. Ramachandran cabinet at the time.



Left Front chairman in West Bengal sentenced to jail



In a landmark judgement, the Calcutta High Court has sentenced the Left Front chairman and CPI(M) politburo member, Biman Bose to three days of simple imprisonment and a fine of ten thousand rupees for making contemptuous remarks against the judiciary. A division bench of the court held Bose guilty of Contempt of Court and said that he would have to stay in prison for another day, if he failed to pay the fine. The Bench, however, stayed the operation of its orders for four weeks on a plea by the Counsel of the CPI(M) leader. The CPI(M) later said he would move the Supreme Court against the High Court order.

The order was passed in a criminal contempt case filed by an advocate against the comments made by Biman Bose on a judgement of the court banning rallies. Basu, however, denied that he made any such comments either against a judge or the judiciary.



Senior bureaucrat found guilty in sexual harassment case



In the first incident of its kind, the Government has found the Chairman and

Managing Director of National Aluminum Company C. Venkataramana guilty of sexual harassment and decided to terminate his services. Venkataramana was found guilty by an independent inquiry committee appointed by the Centre. However, the courts have temporarily stayed the termination of his services for four weeks to allow him to move the courts against the Government decision.

Highly placed government sources earlier said that Venkataramana’s dismissal had been cleared by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC). The appointment and dismissal of senior officials like the CMDs of public sector undertakings has to be done by the ACC. The case had hit the headlines in February last year when a senior NALCO executive had complained that Venkataramana had tried to sexually harass her. The incident took place in Mumbai when the woman met Venkataramana for her promotion, which had been pending for several years. The CMD is alleged to have invited the woman to a hotel where he offered her drinks and later tried to molest her. The woman, however, managed to escape. The Government took serious note of the development and set up a committee as prescribed by the Supreme Court in cases of sexual harassment to probe the incident.



Indian in race as next Pope



Catholic Church circles around the world are discussing informal names of prelates who could succeed Pope John Paul-II who breathed his last on April 2 after a prolonged illness. Among those who figure in the list of Cardinals who could be elected the next Pope is Mumbai’s Archbishop Evan Diaz. According to an international weekly, this is one of the possibilities which may come up. The College of Cardinals will select the Pope.



New Chairman of Delhi Urban Arts Commission



The Manmohan Singh Government has appointed Charles Correa, an architect of international fame as the Chairman of the Delhi Urban Arts Commission. Correa who has designed the British Council Library, Jeevan Bharati Building, Dolls Museum and Gandhi Darshan, is recognised worldwide for making efficient use of space and providing comfortable living in high density accommodation for the lower income groups. The Delhi Urban Arts Commission is meant to preserve and develop the aesthetic quality of urban and environmental design in Delhi. It would be the first time that an architect is being appointed the Commission chairman as it had been headed by bureaucrats since its inception in 1974.

The clearance of the Urban Arts Commission is essential for projects in the national capital which can change the skyline or which are not in conformity with the basic character of the city and its various parts.



Opening up of international skies to Jet Airways : PSC locks horns with UPA



Some constituents of the United Progressive Alliance and supporting parties have criticised the Civil Aviation Ministry’s decision to open up international skies to Jet Airways and give it flying rights to USA on the opening day of its Initial Public Offer (IPO). Members of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport at its meeting last week, hinted that favours were doled out to allegedly push Jet Airways IPO prospects. Sources say that CPI(M) leader and Standing Committee chairman Nilotpal Basu led the attack. The MPs criticised the Ministry for granting speedy clearance to Jet Airways.

According to sources, the MPs said that the policy changes and foreign flying rights helped boost Jet Airways’ IPO prospects and improve its valuation substantially. Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel denied the allegations and said the policy changes were initiated by the previous Vajpayee Government and his Ministry simply moved forward on that track. Praful Patel said : “I have been saying from my first day in office that foreign routes will be opened up to private airlines. In fact, the Cabinet note for opening up foreign routes was prepared by the previous Government. The Jet IPO was not an issue of concern either for me or the Ministry.”



Deputy National Security Advisor



Vijai Nambiar, India’s former Permanent Representative at the United Nations has been appointed Deputy National Security Advisor. He would also be Secretary of the National Security Council. His term of office would be for two years.



BJP : Silver Jubilee celebrations



The BJP National Council will meet in New Delhi on April 6 to kick off the Silver Jubilee celebrations of the party. The BJP was formed on April 6, 1980. But its predecessor, the Bharatiya Jan Sangh, came into existence on October 21, 1951. The Jan Sangh had merged its identity with the Janata Party after the emergency ended in 1977. But the party re-emerged as Bharatiya Janata Party in 1980.

The National Council meeting is expected to take stock of the political situation in the country after the Assembly elections in Bihar, Jharkhand and Haryana. Fortunately for the BJP, Jharkhand has given it the confidence to tell the rank and file that things are improving under L.K. Advani’s leadership. According to the BJP leaders, the results even in Bihar, have been encouraging. But the party’s poor show in Haryana will be a cause for introspection.



Tiger crisis : Rajasthan Government acts at last



The Rajasthan Government has suspended the State’s Chief Wildlife Warden Arun Sen and seven others of the forest department. The action comes after widespread condemnation of the disappearance of tigers from the Sarsika Tiger Sanctuary in Alwar district. The Prime Minister himself had written to the Rajasthan Chief Minister expressing concern at the virtual disappearance of tigers in the Sarsika sanctuary.

There are allegations that the forest officials did not do anything to end the large scale poaching in one of the country’s most prestigious tiger reserves. The CBI team which was asked by the Prime Minister to join the hunt in the Sarsika reserve to trace the tigers has reported that there is little probability of finding any tigers there. The team said that poaching and official apathy were the reasons behind the dwindling tiger numbers in the Sarsika sanctuary.

The CBI team also found that wildlife officials did not act even when they became aware that female tigers had disappeared from the tiger reserve. Seven tigers are reported to have been killed by poachers in three years.

Reports from other tiger reserves indicate that things are not much better there. In the Dudhwa National Park in Uttar Pradesh, tigers are not only an easy prey for poachers, but also for the rail track which runs right through the forest.

The tiger population in the Dudhwa park has declined gradually, but the authorities have not pressed the panic button so far. They are more bothered about their salaries which, according to one report, have not been paid for three months.