Judiciary eroding house supremacy
3 Aug 2013 5:23 AM IST
The 15th Lok Sabha, which seldom saw consensus among the political parties even on matters of grave national concern, could finally witness coming together of the heads. As John Milton had famously said in Book I of Paradise Lost, ‘Now misery hath joined; In ruin;’, the ‘erosion of the supremacy of parliament’ following a spate of apex court orders has brought all the political parties together.
An all-party meeting on Thursday convened by parliamentary affairs minister Kamal Nath on the eve of monsoon session beginning on Monday, 5 August, saw leaders raise the issue of ‘erosion of supremacy’ of Parliament, highlighting the conflict between legislature and judiciary. After the 90-minute meeting, Nath told reporters that all parties expressed concern over the judgements and wanted the National Judicial Commission Bill to be introduced as well as passed in this session itself.
‘In fact, there was almost complete unanimity relating to two judgements of the Supreme Court on the issue of reservations and on the issue of disqualification of members of legislature even if you are in custody for one night. There have been concerns expressed on the erosion of the supremacy of Parliament and political parties want government to respond to it,’ said Nath.
‘How can you expect a smooth session when the Supreme Court has come out with a judgement which has affected 80 per cent of the people belonging to SC, ST and OBC?’ asked JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav, who wanted the government to first address the issue in this session. Asked about the government plans, Kamal Nath said, ‘We will sit and decide.’ Nath expressed hope that this would be a constructive session with parties assuring the government over its smooth functioning.
Some leaders wanted the government to ‘respond’ to the apex court judgement against reservation in the faculty of AIIMS and the orders relating to disqualification which they felt could lead to vendetta and anarchy. The monsoon session, which concludes on 30 August, will have 16 sittings. As many as 44 bills are planned for being taken up for consideration, while six are to be withdrawn and 14 are to be introduced.
Food Security Bill, on which an Ordinance is already in place, is among the key proposed legislations. While the BJP demanded that the Bill on formation of separate Telangana be brought in within this session itself for consideration and passage, government said that it will have to follow the legal process under which a resolution is required to be first passed by the Andhra Pradesh Assembly.
An all-party meeting on Thursday convened by parliamentary affairs minister Kamal Nath on the eve of monsoon session beginning on Monday, 5 August, saw leaders raise the issue of ‘erosion of supremacy’ of Parliament, highlighting the conflict between legislature and judiciary. After the 90-minute meeting, Nath told reporters that all parties expressed concern over the judgements and wanted the National Judicial Commission Bill to be introduced as well as passed in this session itself.
‘In fact, there was almost complete unanimity relating to two judgements of the Supreme Court on the issue of reservations and on the issue of disqualification of members of legislature even if you are in custody for one night. There have been concerns expressed on the erosion of the supremacy of Parliament and political parties want government to respond to it,’ said Nath.
‘How can you expect a smooth session when the Supreme Court has come out with a judgement which has affected 80 per cent of the people belonging to SC, ST and OBC?’ asked JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav, who wanted the government to first address the issue in this session. Asked about the government plans, Kamal Nath said, ‘We will sit and decide.’ Nath expressed hope that this would be a constructive session with parties assuring the government over its smooth functioning.
Some leaders wanted the government to ‘respond’ to the apex court judgement against reservation in the faculty of AIIMS and the orders relating to disqualification which they felt could lead to vendetta and anarchy. The monsoon session, which concludes on 30 August, will have 16 sittings. As many as 44 bills are planned for being taken up for consideration, while six are to be withdrawn and 14 are to be introduced.
Food Security Bill, on which an Ordinance is already in place, is among the key proposed legislations. While the BJP demanded that the Bill on formation of separate Telangana be brought in within this session itself for consideration and passage, government said that it will have to follow the legal process under which a resolution is required to be first passed by the Andhra Pradesh Assembly.
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