Loss of face for central goverment
There has been a constant attack on constitutional organisations ever since Modi’s BJP government assumed power at the centre. Autonomous institutions have been meddled with constantly, pushing envelope to use them to settle vendettas and equations with the political opponents. One of the major examples of this lies in the fact that CBI chief Alok Kumar Verma was sent on compulsory leave in the recent times. Verma had moved courts questioning the decision of the goverment on the leave issue. Supreme Court took up the matter for hearing and has given a dressing down to the government, stating the leave stands cancelled and Verma should return to office. But he has been barred from taking any policy related issues, till the CVC investigation is complete.
Central government was never humiliated like this. Alok Kumar Verma’s tenure would end on January 31. He was sent on compulsory leave, forcibly in October. This is a classic case of government interference over everything else. Supreme Court expressed dissatisfaction over such highhandedness on part of the government.
Right from the beginning, the autonomy of CBI has always been under a scanner because it’s autonomy seems more like tokenism than genuine. All the political parties that have been in power have been using CBI in some way or the other to settle scores with their political opponents. But the midnight operation and sending Verma on leave was a direct attack launched on the CBI. Supreme Court has reinstated Verma, clearly ignoring the reasoning provided by the government that the action was initiated based on the Central Vigilence Committee Commissioner’s report.
PM, Chief Justice of Supreme Court and leaders of opposition will sit together to decide about the future of CBI chief. The decision by the Supreme Court will have its impact on CBI even after Verma’s retirement by the end of the month. The governemnt cannot really take a unilateral adhoc decision regarding the next appointee as CBI director. The argument made by Fali S Nariman, representing Verma is that the director has two year service tenure and the decision made by the govetnment is ntohing but interference.
Central government had appointed Verma as CBI chief in 2017. Then he was sent on leave all of a sudden. Is there any truth in the allegations made by the opposition that Verma was going into the files and details of the Rafael deal made by the central government which caused him to be shunted out? Why was Asthana, who is considered a Modi aide, appointed as the director of CBI in the same month?
After Asthana’s appoinment, CBI turned into a warzone of internal bickerings. The central goverment is solely responsible for this. This brought out the fights into open space and ruined the confidence it enjoyed among people, thanks to Modi government. When Verma had travelled aborad, Asthana had attended a meeting on promotions for staff called by the CVC. Verma was livid when he heard that Asthana attended the meeting on his behalf, stating he had not designated anyone as acting chief. This brought out the differences of opinion among both seniors in CBI and both then lodged complaints citing corrpuption charges. The centre then woke up and sent both of them on leave and appointed Nageswara Rao as the acting chief. The centra government did not check with highpower committee for any suggestions. Advocate Prashanth Bhushan and others had submitted a plea to CBI seeking inquiry into Rafeal deal, that seems to be surrounding Modi at the moment. Based on this complaint, Verma had colletced a few details for further investination. Hence one version says this caused Modi goverment to train their guns on Verma and send him on leave. This is not totally far from the truth either. Central goverment got into a quick sand trying to protect Modi. This is a warning bell for the future goverments as well.
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Speaker rules out discussion on Guv''s conduct amid K''taka Assembly standoff
Bengaluru (PTI): In an effort to end the logjam over the Governor's address that has stalled proceedings for the past week, Karnataka Assembly Speaker U T Khader on Wednesday ruled that legislators should not discuss Thaawarchand Gehlot or his conduct in the house, saying such debates send the wrong message to the public.
The House has witnessed repeated disruptions and adjournments since the session began on January 22 over the issue of the governor's conduct.
During his address to the joint sitting of the Karnataka legislature on January 22, Gehlot read out only three sentences from the 122-paragraph speech prepared by the state government.
The speech included criticism of the Centre for replacing the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) with the Viksit Bharat–Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajivika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G), portions of which the governor declined to read.
Concluding his address in about two minutes, the governor left the house, triggering a commotion as Congress legislators attempted to gherao him and raised slogans.
While the opposition BJP accused the ruling Congress and its ministers of "insulting" the governor and demanded action, the treasury benches countered by claiming the governor had "insulted the National Anthem by leaving before it was played."
The house again witnessed heated arguments on the issue earlier in the day, leading to adjournment.
During the interruption, Khader held a meeting with ministers and opposition members to resolve the impasse.
When proceedings resumed, the speaker delivered his ruling.
Referring to the events of January 22 and the subsequent debate, Khader said the conduct and discussions had conveyed the wrong message to the public.
"Our conduct as members of this House and the opinions expressed must be in good taste and in accordance with constitutional provisions. They must uphold the dignity of the House and its members. We must introspect in this direction," he said.
He stressed the need for caution to ensure that such incidents are not repeated in the future.
"Let us end this matter here, continue the discussion on the motion of thanks to the governor, and refrain from discussing the governor or his conduct in this house," the speaker said.
Leader of the Opposition R Ashoka said the house should express regret over what he termed an "insult" to the governor.
Responding, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said the situation would not have arisen had the governor read out the entire address.
"Asking the house to express regret is not appropriate. Why did the governor leave even before the National Anthem was played," Siddaramaiah asked.
BJP MLA S Suresh Kumar reminded Siddaramaiah that as Leader of the Opposition in 2011, he had asked then Governor Hansraj Bhardwaj to curtail his address.
Bhardwaj had subsequently placed the address on the table of the house, requesting members to treat it as read.
Siddaramaiah said the situation in January 2011 was different from the present one.
The debate grew intense, leading to another adjournment of the house.
