Posts tagged ‘constitution’

Authority is not the criterion of Truth

‘Lokpal must work within the frame work of the Constitution’ is the repeated litany we hear starting from the Prime Minister and others others in the corridors of power.

The Constitution is made for the citizens of India and the citizens are not made for the Constitution. The Constitution of India’s frame work can be altered-has been altered more than 90 times to adjust to the needs of the powerful So what is this great hue and cry that the Lokpal must work within the framework of the Constitution.

It must be recalled that Indira Gandh even suspended the Constitution to enforce her dictatorial rule.(No worthwhile Lokpal can come out of the Gandhi family) Be it the Privy purses-the nationalization of banks all these were enforced only by amending the Constitution. How many times was the Constitution amended even to accommodate the greed of the MPs and made their services-non services paid by the hard earned money of the taxpayers?

The Constitution Fathers would not and had not envisaged looters and criminals becoming Members of Parliament. So to now fall back on the Constitution and make the Lokpal subservient to the Constitution is another conspiracy of the corrupt. It is the same Constitution which allowed this unprecedented scams and massive corruption in India. This points at something basically lacking in the Constitution when it comes to arresting and stemming corruption. If the Constitution as it stands was not able to stem the rot then the Constitution needs to be revamped may be rewritten. If the Constitution could breed Husain Ali Khans, Dawood Ibrahims then there is something basically wrong with such a Constitution. If the MPs think that they are above the Constitution then such thinking is radically flawed. If the Ministers think that they alone are constitutionally valid to draft the Lokpal bill then we question such constitutionality.

If the judiciary of this country want to be above the constitution then where is the need of the Constitution. Take the process of justice and the flow of justice where in even the Fundamental right of equality is not adhered. Hence the rich and the powerful are in jails without bails but with the jails’ locks opened. They are given all luxuries according to their money and muscle power. Where is Equality then? If a pickpocket steals a purse with a few rupees he is thrown in jail without any amenities and for years languishes But if the high and the mighty loot the country of lakhs of crores of rupees they are treated  differentially. Is this a justice system where Fundamental Rights are violated? Is this working within the framework of the Constitution? You ill-treat your pets then you can be fined one crore or 5 years of imprisonment. How just and how caring to the pets? But how callous and insensitive to the poor humans. But if a woman is involved in a murder case-abets the crime which means assisting in chopping the human body into pieces-abetting in the destruction of the evidence-she is given just three years of imprisonment-After having enjoyed a good life in jail for three years given police protection and in full glare of the media walks free as though she has enacted a historical event. This is the judiciary which works within the frame work of the Constitution. And no one is upset or sheds tears. The alleged criminal becomes a much sought after star.

So to them who swear by the Constitution let it be clear that what suits them they take. They are the ones who violate the word and the spirit of the Constitution. The Constitution is not infallible and must be flexible and adjust to the growing criminalization of the polity. The political class cannot hide under the pages of the Constitution because the political class which drafted the Constitution belonged entirely to a different class of political species. The safest place for a criminal today is the Parliament. This is well known and yet the Parliamentarians pretend that they are above the law. They are to an extent, and that’s the root cause of corruption. It is not the chaprasi who takes a few rupees to open the door, or the  takhasidhar’s office clerical staff who takes a few hundred rupees to move the files but the high and the mighty-the babus who are receiving lakhs as salaries, the Ministers who like leeches suck the blood of the tax payers-these are the people whom the Lokpal must net in.The A.Rajas,the Kalmadis, the army top brass who cheated the widows in the Adharsh landscam,the politicians who have three and four villas abroad-who holidays in Switzerland and celebrates b’day bash in London-those who shed crocodile tears for the poor of India, these are the people whom the Lokpal must be directed against

The government we are told is committed to bringing in a strong Lokpal. Given the whole gamut of happenings one doubts this because the GOI is mostly corrupt. There are a few non corrupt persons but this does not mean that one swallow makes the summer and one cannot hide behind these few persons. By and large the people’s representatives are most indifferent, insensitive, and corrupt and are a burden to the common people. The judiciary too need to be put under the scanner-Even in cases like Rathoor’s molestation of Ruchika it was the media which forced the judiciary to rethink and revisit the judgment Why is it that the lower judiciary is very irreverent towards justice. Can every victim appeal to the higher judiciary and find recourse in the Supreme Court? Is the media unbiased and can it play the advocacy role in every case? The Judiciary must come under the purview of the Lokpal.

It is crucial also for the Prime Minister to be brought under the Lokpal. After all the Prime minister is a representative of the people-not a representative of anyone party and as such must be accountable to the people. This does not mean that every frivolous case will be taken against the PM’s office. How easily the PM in recent years sought to be absolved under ‘error of judgment’-over sight-etc. In instances where the PM was fully aware of the corruption-at least was posted of the doings of the alleged criminals he did not act-did nothing. A stoic silence is not the answer

To be honest the people have lost faith in this government and in the political class. How absurd it is to say that the Congress led UPA is committed to bring in a strong Lopal. How can the corrupt fight the corrupt and what sense does it make when the people are told that a government which silently watched the corruption seep in and eat into every branch and area of governance is promising the nation a strong Lokpal?. There have been questions raised and the Group of empowered ministers have been also raising the same questions-that is the constitutionality of the civil society. Every citizen of this country is constitutionally valid and qualified to raise his/her voice against corruption. It is by and large the constitutional authorities and institutions that are at fault and are mired in corruption. How did the NAC acquire constitutional status? What is the constitutionality of No 10 Janpath becoming a power centre? How has the constitutional experts silently watched this dual power system in a democracy ? Where does the dynasty acquire its legitimacy that even the PM is ready to quit when Rahul Gandhi expresses his wish to sit in the gaddi?

All this and more is constitutional-only when the civil society stands up for the people then questions are raised on its constitutionality. To put in a nutshell we have lost faith in the constitutional authority and institutions because they/these have led down the people-have betrayed the people’s faith and trust. It must be remembered that AUTHORITY is not the criterion of TRUTH..It is the simple folks-the hardworking class, the starving millions of this country who still believe in national patriotism that have morphed into Baba Ramdev and Anna Hazare to demand the right to righteousness, to plead for a clean governance and for accountability to the people. It would be too simplistic for the GOI under the Congress to think that this movement can be crushed. That force can be used under constitutionality as it did in the Ramlila grounds to crush the rights of the people. State terrorism cannot be constitutional-the sovereignty of Parliament flows from the people and if the people are crushed then the sovereignty and the whole parliamentary democracy will come down in a bloody revolution. The writing on the wall is clear-no threats can silence TRUTH  No laws can negate the right to Freedom of speech and Freedom of the Individual. No lathis can break the spine of the constitutionality of the people of India and it is obligatory on the GOI led by the Congress to respect the people’s power and their constitutionality to safeguard the sovereignty of this country-to protect its ethos and to uphold Justice and Truth-to banish and vanquish corruption.

Dr Mrs Hilda Raja


July 4, 2011 at 6:22 pm 5 comments


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