Some governors doing what shouldn’t be done, not doing what’s needed: Justice Nagarathna
Bengaluru: Supreme Court Judge B.V. Nagarathna said that some governors in India do things that are not meant to be done by them and stay inactive where they need to act. It was really unfortunate that petitions against the governors had reached the doors of the Supreme Court, she said. The Judge was addressing Pluralist Agreement and Constitutional Transformation (PACT) Project-NLSIU conference on the topic ‘Home in the Nation: Indian Women’s Constitutional Imaginaries’ at Bengaluru on Saturday.
Her statement comes in the backdrop of Kerala and Tamil Nadu governments’ pleas to the Supreme Court against their governors for withholding assent for bills, and the Court's agreement to re-examine the immunity granted to governors, under Article 361, from criminal prosecution.
Justice Nagarathna quoted lawyer and social worker Duragabai Deshmukh on the subject of neutrality of a governor. She said that a governor is expected to discharge certain functions. Constitution thinks of him as an element of harmony which would bring a kind of understanding between the conflicting groups, she said. "The governing idea is to keep the governor away from party politics, factions and not to include him in any party affairs", she said.
The views also come during a time when Karnataka Governor Thawar Chand Gehlot has issued a show-cause notice to CM Siddaramaiah in MUDA scam, which has been strongly objected to by the state cabinet.
The judge said that the country must give importance to the union structure, fraternity, fundamental rights and ethical administration to strengthen Indian Constitutionalism. During the increasing conflits between the centre and the states, the judge said that the states shouldn't be thought of as 'incapable and subservient'. Constitutional polity must be the mantra, she added.
Justice Nagarathna said that society attained a real 'constructive citizenship' with the financial emancipation of women. It was safest tool to achieve social reformation and stop economic exploitation of women. Responsibilities like rearing children and domestic chores hindered a woman's ambition to be a constructive part of the formal workforce, she said. She stressed the role of law in transforming society by ensuring that women didn't have to strike a bargain between motherhood and employment.
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Palakkad: Hotel owners hold protest march against gas price hike
Palakkad (Kerala) (PTI): Hotel and restaurant owners on Saturday held a protest march in Palakkad against the recent nearly Rs 1,000 hike in commercial gas cylinder prices.
The protesters marched through the town holding placards and images of gas cylinders. They also carried two cylinders on a stretcher with a wreath placed on top, according to visuals aired on television channels.
The hotel and restaurant owners contended that it would be difficult for them to sustain their businesses in view of the high cost of commercial gas cylinders.
They said that many of them had been forced to shut their establishments earlier due to the scarcity of commercial gas cylinders, and that most had only recently reopened.
“But the sudden increase in commercial gas cylinder prices has affected our operations,” the protesters said.
Similar concerns were raised by restaurant owners and workers from other parts of the state in response to queries from reporters.
The Kerala Hotel and Restaurant Association had on Friday announced a statewide protest strike on May 6 against the Rs 993 hike in commercial LPG cylinder prices.
KHRA state president G Jayapal said that all hotels and restaurants across Kerala would remain shut on that day in protest against what he termed an “unfair” increase in LPG prices.
He added that over the past five months, the price of a single cylinder had increased by a total of Rs 1,498.
On May 6, establishments will remain closed, and protest marches and dharnas will be held in front of district headquarters and oil company offices, he said.
