Kharge again refuses to attend Lokpal selection panel meet
New Delhi, Aug 20 : Senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday again refused to attend the Tuesday meeting of a committee to select the Lokpal, saying he wouldn't do so until he gets the status of a full-fledged member instead of a 'Special Invitee'.
In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday, the Leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha said that to exclude the voice of the opposition in a parliamentary democracy would be to exclude and subjugate Parliament.
"... with reference to an office memorandum dated July 6 of the Department of Personnel and Training, inviting me to attend a meeting of the Selection Committee under the Lokpal Act on August 21, I would like to draw your attention to my three letters earlier this year in response to previous invitations to attend the committee meetings on March 1, April 10 and July 19 as a Special Invitee...
"Despite my earlier letters, the government continues to invite me as a Special Invitee, knowing very well what the outcome will be. Perhaps, the government intends this outcome to create another strawman to attack by suggesting that the opposition is not cooperating in implementing the Lokpal Act... there is no provision for a Special Invitee under the Lokpal Act.
"It is deeply embarrassing to Parliament that even after its Select Committee approved amendment to the Lokpal Act to enable leader of the single-largest (opposition) party to be a member of the Selection Committee, the government refuses to bring this amendment before the house."
The senior Congress leader said that he believed that the process of appointing the Lokpal under such circumstances is "vitiated".
"...instead of genuinely involving the opposition, the invitation as a Special Invitee without the right of participation, recording of opinion or voting, is being sent out to the opposition.
"Under these circumsatances... I will not be able to attend the committee meeting until the leader of the single-largest opposition (party in the Lok Sabha) is conferred the status of a full-fledged member of the Selection Committee, as envisoned in the Lokpal Act, 2013."
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Assam to lift all cases against Koch Rajbongshis in Foreigners' Tribunals: CM Himanta Biswa Sarma
Guwahati, Apr 4 (PTI): The Assam cabinet has decided to lift all cases pending against people from the Koch Rajbongshi community in the Foreigners' Tribunals, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Friday.
They will also no longer carry the tag of 'D' or doubtful voters, he said.
''There are 28,000 cases pending in different Foreigners' Tribunals in the state against people of the community. The cabinet has taken a historic decision of lifting the cases with immediate effect,'' Sarma said at a press conference here after the cabinet meeting.
The government believes that the Koch Rajbongshis are an indigenous community of the state and they are an inextricable part of ''our social and cultural fabric'', he asserted.
The people of this community are poor and have suffered a lot over the years, he said.
''They will no longer carry the tag of foreigners or ‘D’ voters,'' the CM said.
Foreigners Tribunals are quasi-judicial bodies, particularly in Assam, established to determine if a person residing in India is a "foreigner" as defined by the Foreigners Act of 1946, based on the Foreigners (Tribunals) Order of 1964.
These tribunals are designed to address matters related to citizenship and the presence of “foreigners” in India, specifically focusing on cases where someone is suspected of being an illegal immigrant.
There are 100 Foreigners’ Tribunals across Assam.
The Koch Rajbongshis have a sizeable presence in Assam, West Bengal, Meghalaya, and parts of Bangladesh, Nepal, and Bhutan, and they demand Scheduled Tribe status.
