SC Rejects Govt. Review Petition on Criminal Netas

I begin with my earlier observation made immediately after the historic judgment of the Supreme Court of India on July 10, 2013 on convicted politicians elected to Parliament and State Assemblies. I had commented in my earlier blog that History would never forgive the government of the day in particular and the law makers (Members of Parliament) in general should they try to nullify the Supreme Court verdict on the matter. The SC ruled that any elected Member of Parliament and State Assemblies if convicted by a trial court for a crime with sentence of two years or more imprisonment would cease to be member of the House to which he or she was elected even if a review petition against the conviction lies in higher court.

As feared, the UPA Government moved a review petition before the Supreme Court challenging the earlier verdict. The Government defended its decision saying that it received petitions from all political parties to challenge the verdict on disqualification of elected representatives.

On Wednesday, September 4, 2013, a division bench of the Supreme Court comprising justice A K Patnaik and justice S J Mukhopadhyaya rejected the government’s petition saying that, “Even the government and others appear to agree with the interpretation we have given in this case”.

However, the apex court agreed to give a fresh look to the second petition of the government seeking review of the judgment that barred a jailed politician from contesting elections since a jailed person is not entitled to cast vote.

One wonders what makes the government or for that matter political parties to come in defence of criminal elements in politics. Only recently, a big scam on highly inflated air fare claimed by some MPs has come to light. There are as many as 176 MPs who are facing criminal cases in different courts. There is a police report in Delhi that many MPs flats and residences in Lutyen’s Bungalow Zone in New Delhi run tent houses and other sundry trade which is not only illegal but also a security threat to the occupants. There are instances when MPs and MLAs have claimed TA (travelling allowances) for a tour in which they were present in more than one place at the particular day and date. Such acts of the elected representatives only undermine the institution of Parliament and State Legislature besides eroding the values of democracy.

In its earlier judgment on July 10, 2013, the Supreme Court had struck down, “Section 8(4) of the Representation of the People Act which allowed a Member of Parliament and State Legislative Assemblies to retain their Membership of the House they were elected to for three months to enable them to file an appeal in the higher court. The Act also allowed the Members convicted of crime by trial court till their appeal was adjudicated by the higher court”.

The government is unlikely to accept the verdict on the criminal politicians since it has decided to move amendments to the relevant sections of the Representation of the People Act in Parliament to nullify the apex court verdict. It is again a sad commentary on the government who is determined to protect and in the process encourage criminal elements in politics to occupy the temples of democracy – Parliament and State Assemblies.

~R. K. Sinha

Vanzara Letter Lacks Credibility

There is complete lack of credibility of what the jailed police officer D. G. Vanzara says in his letter. An IPS officer of DG rank Vanzara says that he acted on the orders of the chief minister of Gujarat and Minister of State for Home Affairs. The law is clear in its terms. No individual, whosoever he or she may be and irrespective of position or post held by him or her can take shelter under the pretext or fact that he or she acted or executed the order of his superior if the act and execution is bad in law.

For instance, X is an officer and his superior may be a minister, or chief minister or even the Prime Minister orders him to kill ‘A’ and if he kills the target he is guilty of murder and is liable to be prosecuted under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code. Any government officer can’t take the alibi that he committed a crime by executing the order of the government. If the order is illegal he should refuse to follow or execute it. This is what the rule book says.

Vanzara’s grievance is that the chief minister did not protect him from the law. How can a chief minister protect a person facing criminal charges? The only person who can defend Vanzara is his defence counsel.Vanzara in his letter says, “… I simply acted and performed duties in compliance of the conscious policy of the government”. The government never adopted a policy to eliminate people in false encounter.

Vanzara must have been a self seeker and careerist who saw an opportunity in going overboard to please his political masters. He did something that he was never asked to do. If any officer says that he treats his political boss like a God, he is a dangerous person. Such individuals would not hesitate to harm and even kill his boss if the later goes against him.

The language of the letter speaks of the deep rooted frustration of Vanzara. It also betrays some degree of mental instability.

The whole thing appears to be engineered to target once again Narendra Modi who is emerging as a big challenge to the Congress Party and its leaders. The Congress leaders are excited over Vanzara’s letter knowing little that such letter has no meaning. The Supreme Court of India has supervised the investigations into the Gujrat riots, the apex court has also handled petitions against Narendra Modi who has been given clean chit by the investigating agency.

Congress leaders are said to be busy trying to explore possibilities if Vanzara can be made approver in the case and if a fresh inquiry can be set up to probe the charges. Such dirty tricks don’t pay.

~R. K. Sinha

PM Speaks on Economic Crisis: Actions Not Words Will Do

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today spoke in Parliament on the current economic situation of the country. What he said was not different from the statement made by finance minister P Chidasmbaram a few days ago in Parliament. Prime Minister said to increase exports so did the finance minister. Prime Minister said external factor like the US Federal Reserve Policy and tension in Syria following Washington’s threat to strike as the reason for depreciation of Indian rupee. But these words are hardly reassuring unless the government acts to boost industrial production and encourage investments.

Another reason advanced by Prime Minister for falling rupee was Current Accounts Deficit. The only way to bring down the CAD is to increase exports and reduce imports. Oil is one item that costs India heavily since 80% of our requirement comes from import. On this Prime Minister said, “the current account deficit was unsustainably large and to remedy this there needed to be a reduction in our appetite for gold and consumption of petrol products, alluding to a need to reduce imports”.

There is an atmosphere of uncertainty on the economic front. The government’s failure to check corruption has eroded the credibility of the government. Only yesterday, the Supreme Court has reprimanded the government for the ‘missing files’ of coal block allocations describing it as a criminal act of the government.

Ratan Tata has said that India’s credibility in the global market has eroded considerably in the recent times due to lopsided policies. Tata said that many important economic policies were being manipulated or delayed to benefit vested interests in the private sector. Without naming anybody or any particular industrial house, Tata hinted that some leading industrialists were behind these manipulations.

Manmohan Singh preferred to keep silence on this pointed question raised by Tata.

Asking people to stop the lure of gold is not going to cut ice in the country. Indians would continue to buy gold no matter what the economic situation is like in the country.

Prime Minister thinks that Indian rupee has overshot its real value and hopes to reverse the trend, but how? He has not said much on this count. His cabinet colleague Anand Sharma, Minister for Commerce has come out with the suggestion that government should issue fresh ‘gold bond’ to attract gold from private individuals. But the Reserve Bank of India is yet to give its nod. The outgoing Governor of the RBI D. Subbarao in his last speech in Mumbai has blamed the government’s wrong policies for the present economic crisis and the slide of Indian rupee.

But our Prime Minister says, “Forex markets have the notorious history of overshooting... unfortunately this is happening not only to the rupee but other currencies too".

The notoriety of ‘foreign market’ is not a child play Mr. Prime Minister. People will not discard Indian currency for no reason. If our economy is strong and market robust, foreign exchange market would buy rupee and not sell it as is the case now. Remove the impression that the government policies are being guided and dictated by a handful of big houses. Infuse confidence in the investors foreign and domestic to revive economy. It may take time. But the government is in a hurry to push populist legislations to attract votes for the elections. When our Prime Minister talks of reducing fiscal deficit by controlling subsidies, he sounds far from convincing as subsidies will further rise by the food security bill and there is no question of government reducing subsidies on fertilizers and kerosene. Think again Mr. Prime Minister as the time is running out.

~R. K. Sinha  

‘Purvanchali’ Now a Vote Factor In Delhi: BJP’s Smart Move

Long neglected in Delhi, large number of the people coming from Eastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand in the national capital whose contribution in nation building cannot be ignored has finally got some recognition from the BJP. Congress has been taking dig at people of Bihar, Jhrakhand and Eastern Uttar Pradesh for making the capital ‘overcrowded’ and for rising crime graph. Chief Minister of Delhi Sheila Dixit is on record saying some time back that migration from Bihar is putting strain on resources of Delhi. Indirectly she has been blaming Purvanchali for water and power shortage.

With elections approaching, the BJP held an impressive rally of people from Purvanchal in Delhi on Wedensday and promised a number of steps for the people from this region. I was present at the rally in my capacity as ‘co-in-charge’ of Delhi elections to assist Mr. Nitin Gadkari who is in charge of the Delhi polls. Encouraged by massive response, Mr. Gadkari assured the people that if the BJP is voted to power in Delhi it will declare the festival of ‘Chhath’ a public holiday. It has been a long standing demand of the people of this region to declare ‘Chhath’ a holiday but the Congress government made promises to do so in the past, but never did it. 

According to one estimate there are more than 30 lakh voters in Delhi who are ‘Purvanchalis’ and can change the fortune of a candidate in at least 20 Assembly constituencies in the capital. But the people of the region also expect the BJP to field some candidates in the polls belonging to this region. But it is up to the Party leadership to decide.

Mr. Gadkari also promised the people to provide medical benefit under free health care scheme and 10 lakh low cost houses to benefit economically weak families of people of Purvanchal.

In electoral politics, ‘pressure group’ works. I am not suggesting that the people of Purvanchal are exerting any pressure on political parties for a due share in participation. But the fact remains that unless people are united as a group, political parties would not care for them. I have been working steadfastly in trying to infuse a sense of unity among the people from Purvanchal drawn from various caste groups but with a cultural bond. There are many festivals including Chhath that people from this region celebrate in a particular pattern. It has been my endeavor not to create any division in the society but to unite people of the region for better service to the nation with dedication as a group of people.

Purvanchalis are nationalists to the core. Their contribution to the freedom movement and in the post independent India can’t be undermined or ignored. They have gone too far from their hearth and home in search of livelihood. In the process people from this region has transformed states like Punjab into India’s granary by working as farm labourers. Mumbai for that matter owes its growth to the migrant population from Purvanchal. It is not only the labour class that works for the growth of the nation but hosts of qualified engineers, doctors, academicians, entrepreneurs and social workers besides politicians from the region are an asset to the nation by their continued contribution to the uplift of the society and the country.

~R. K. Sinha     

Food Bill or Vote Bill: Implementation A Challenge

Finally the Food Security Bill has been cleared by Lok Sabha. It is a matter of time when the Bill becomes an Act that ensures to provide subsidized grain to the poor at the rate of Rs. 3 per kg rice, wheat at Rs. 2 per kg and coarse grain like Bajra and Jawar at the rate of Re. 1 per kg.

The purpose of the bill to provide food grains to the poor is laudable; few can dispute it. But the implementation of the scheme is not only a big challenge but it also will open flood gate of corruption where the millions of tons of food grains meant for the poor would be sold in open market, the beneficiaries of the scheme would not get it.

The government would supply 5 kg of food grain in a month to the beneficiaries of the scheme. Now can the policy makers and the government of the day explain how a person can sustain himself or herself in 5 kg of grain for the whole month?  The people for whom this scheme has been brought generally eat only twice a day or maximum three times a day. There is no refreshment of snacks in between the meals. They are mostly laborers and daily wage earners who burn lot of calories while working. If you divide 5 kg by 30 it comes out to be less than 170 grammes a day. That means a person would have to divide his quota of ration into two or three and then he will consume just 85 grammes of rice or wheat for one meal. The policy makers and the people running the government like the Prime Minister Manmoohan Singh, Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Mantok Singh Ahluwalia should not compare their intake of meal with an average working class Indian!

Had the government the will to act, it would have brought new legislation to enforce the existing supply chain of ration under Public Distribution System strictly; it would have taken care of the needy people of the country. Then there are states like Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Chhatisgarh where modified scheme of PDS provide rice and wheat to the people under BPL (Below the Poverty Line) at Re one a kilogram compared to Rs. 3 and Rs.2 a kilogram under the new Food Security Bill. The system is working well in these states. Where was then need to bring in the new legislation?

Burdened with scores of scams and corruption, the UPA Government finds itself at the receiving end. The people are angry. The Government has failed on every front, be it economy, industry and agriculture. The managers think that it was MNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme) that helped Congress win elections in 2009. This time it thinks the Food Security Bill will rescue the Party and help win the next general elections. This is not going to happen. It will take more than a year to make roll of beneficiaries who come under the scheme. Then it will depend how many people entitled to the subsidized grain get it through distribution system or by direct cash transfer.

In the mean time the food subsidy bill is going to rise to the tune of Rs, 1.30 lakh crores a year; thus increasing our fiscal deficit further. Only officials and middlemen are smiling, for 90 percent of the money would go into their pocket.

~R. K. Sinha 

Desperate Cong In Search of Allies

Congress appears to be desperate to get allies for the 2014 general elections. All indications point to a heavy loss of seats; above hundred seats in Lok Sabha from the present strength of 206. With prospects in Hindi heartland looking bleak for the Party, the Congress leaders have decided to save its position in four southern states. It is only in Karnataka where the Congress is poised to gain few seats because of the chief minister Siddaramiah who introduced some populist programmes soon after becoming chief minister this year. But in the remaining three states namely Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala the Congress is in hopeless situation.

In Tamil Nadu, the Congress is desperately trying to strike a deal with the DMK.  The Congress took first step when it ensured Karunanidhi to spare its votes for the Rajya Sabha elections so that Kanimozi could win. She retained her seat with the help of the Congress. Now Rahul Gandhi made gesture by greeting Karunaidhi on his birthday besides other Congress leaders. The CBI has gone slow on cases in the 2G scam against Kanimozi, A Raja and Dayanidhi Maran to appease the DMK. Karunanidhi is too willing to tie up with the Congress since its prospects in the elections are also bleak. The DMK will lose heavily and the Congress may draw a blank if it goes on its own in Tamil Nadu. Even Finance Minister P Chidambaram may not be able win a seat from Tamil Nadu in next elections. He is looking for a safe seat in Union Territory of Podducheery. Jayalalitha is poised to sweep the elections in the southern state and her Party the AIADMK will either support the NDA or go with the third front but not with the Congress.

In Andhra Pradesh, the political decision to split the state with an eye on 2014 elections has not paid. The Congress is facing hostile reaction from the people and its leaders from Andhra region. In Telegana it is advantage Congress but should Telengana Rashtriya Samiti  chief Chandra Shekhar Rao decide to retain its separate political identity there will be more trouble for the Congress in the region. The Congress is now trying for the merger of the TRS with it to win the region. But the BJP is set to gain in Andhra Pradesh. Massive response of the people to Narendra Modi’s rally in Hyderabad early this month is seen as BJP gaining ground in the state. On the other hand the Congress is facing stiff challenge from Jaganmohan Reddy and his party which is breakaway group of the Congress.

In Kerala, the allies of the Congress are intact in form of the United Democratic Front but the growing unpopularity of the chief minister Oman Chandy will cost the party heavily in the Lok Sabha elections. Chandy is involved in multi-crore scam of solar energy. The Congress bid to remove Chandy from the office has not been successful so far. With taint on its face, should Chandy continue to head the state government and lead the Congress in the elections next year, not only the Party but its alliance partners in the UDF including the Muslim League would suffer to the benefit of the Left Democratic Front; the Communists stand to gain in the polls.

~R. K. Sinha

Free Fall for Rupee: Govt Policy Failure

The free fall of rupee is a direct consequence of policy failure of the UPA Government on the economic front. To say that the foreign direct investment is not coming because of ‘negativism’ spread by the CAG reports on scams is a travesty of truth. Two senior ministers of the government are on record to blame the CAG for the current crisis. One should remind the government and the ministers that the scenario on the domestic front is equally bad as domestic investments are also not coming.

There is a crisis of confidence in the investors that is holding the investment besides liquidity crunch due to faulty policy of the Reserve Bank of India which has tightened screw on cash flow.

The government desperate measures like RBI selling dollars to arrest the fall of rupee has not helped. Today the rupee hit a record low of 65 for 1 US $. To say that exporters are happy is also wrong since in the long term the volatile rupee is not going to help the exporters in India whether it is in IT sector or automobile.

The Current Account Deficit (CAD) has increased to 10% of the GDP which is hitting the foreign exchange reserves. It has increased tenfold in the past five years. The CAD is estimated at more than 80 billion dollars at present.

The government allowed generous import of luxury goods like cosmetics, cars, foreign liquor, electronic goods like television and computers. There is no custom duty on bringing goods worth Rs. 35,000 from  places like Dubai, Bangkok and Singapore. Flat screen LCD and LED televisions are available in foreign markets at half the price in India. For instance 32 inch LED branded television can be bought for as cheap as Rs. 12,000 whereas in Indian market the price of the same set varies between  Rs. 30000 to Rs. 35,000. Many people who frequently visit these cities have made it a lucrative business. They buy cheaper sets abroad and bring them to India without paying any duty and sell them in India at higher price but less than price in Indian market making profit. It is sort of smuggling of the goods with government approval.

The government has woken up now and has imposed 30% custom duty on television sets brought from foreign land which will come into force from 26^th August. Similarly, the government has increased import duty on gold to check outflow of dollar without realizing that it will increase gold smuggling in the country since the lure of yellow metal will not die even if prices are high.

Economic experts are of the view that widespread corruption in the country has shaken the confidence of the investors who find government favouring only some select group of industry and business houses who have good political links in the corridors of power. The policy of showing favours to few and ignoring genuine entrepreneurs and investors has dented the investment environment in the country. The result is before us. I can only hope that the government even at this stage would revise its policy and take measures to instill confidence in the investors- foreign and domestic- to reverse the trend.

~R. K. Sinha