Hyderabad: ( P.A. Rama Rao-NSS): The Vice-President who is also the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, Mr M Venkaiah Naidu, has once again laid emphasis on issues like the need for a code of conduct for politicians both inside and outside Parliament and Legislatures, implementation of the Anti-defection Law in letter and spirit expeditiously, within three months, and the like.
He was speaking at a function held to release his book “Moving on, Moving Forward: A Year in Office”, at New Delhi last week.
It is pertinent to recall in this context that earlier also, as Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Mr Naidu had made similar statements and stressed that measures should be taken without any delay to put an end to many unethical practices which went against the provisions of the Constitution. Not only Mr Naidu, but even the earlier President Mr Pranab Mukherjee and the present President Mr Ram Nath Kovind also aired similar views and called for action.
Apart from the views expressed by the political leaders in power, what is intriguing is that the recommendations made by the Law Commission in regard to several political issues, were also totally ignored by the successive Governments, and many undemocratic practices are going on unabated both at the Centre and in different States. The flagrant violation of the anti-defection Law, to suit the leaders in Power, the stoic silence being maintained by the Speakers and Governors in taking action against the defectors from one party to the other in spite of repeated complaints by political parties, is one major issue that has become a matter of concern in recent years.
It is pertinent to point out here that the Law Commission had submitted its report to the Union Law Ministry on March 12, 2015 on many political issues. Unfortunately enough, even after more than three-and-a-half years, the Union Government kept the Report in Cold Storage and failed to act on the recommendations. The Commission headed by Justice A P Shah had recommended that the matter relating to disqualification of a Member should not be left to the discretion of the Speaker (Lok Sabha or State Assembly), but it should be vested with the Election Commission instead.
The panel said that a Constitution amendment be made in this regard. It also suggested t that while amending the Act, a time-frame also should be stipulated within which the Election Commission and later the President/Governor should take a call on the complaints filed seeking disqualification of an elected Member who defected from one party to the other. Yet another recommendation made by the Commission is that a Candidate should be allowed to contest only from one constituency and that newspaper advertisements on the eve of elections be banned.
Now, coming to the point, one fails to understand why Mr Venkaiah Naidu had not initiated any action on these matters when he was in the Union Cabinet, particularly when he was the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs. It is also incumbent upon the President and Vice-President, the two highest Constitutional authorities, to advice the Union Government to take action on the recommendations of the Law Commission. Will they act at least now, instead of making loud statements !!! (NSS)