Rajasthan 'gag' order: Law to save babus from probe, media glare
20 Oct 2017 11:44 PM IST
JAIPUR: In a controversial move, the Vasundhara Raje government in Rajasthan has barred courts from taking up private complaints against public servants including lawmakers, ministers and officials without the government's concurrence and made it a crime for the media to name the accused till the government decides that the public servant concerned can be investigated.
The Rajasthan government had made the changes to the criminal procedure code by an executive order on 7 September last month.
On Monday, the ordinance is expected to come up for approval of the state assembly, where the BJP has 162 of the 200 seats.
Under the changes made by the executive order, the government will get six months to decide if an allegation against a public servant is worth probing. If the state government does not get back to the court with its approval within six months, it will be deemed to have given its sanction.
The changes are broadly patterned on restrictions proposed in the Prevention of Corruption Act which has been pending in parliament's Rajya Sabha for a few years. The Manmohan Singh government had first moved these changes in 2013, ostensibly to protect honest public servants.
The Rajasthan government's version goes a step further and outlaws reporting any information that discloses the identity of the judges or public servant facing accusations unless the government has vetted the case. Journalists can be sentenced to two years jail for violating this rule.
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