'A Fraud On The Constitution'

The abrupt adjournment of Both Houses of Parliament sine die is admittedly atthe behest of the government. The government decided that the Parliament beprorogued so that an ordnance can be issued to save the membership of the LokSabha of Mrs. Sonia Gandhi where disqualification has been sought in a petitionfiled before the President.

The conduct of the government is a fraud on the constitution. It is a subversionof Parliament. Article 123 of the Constitution enables the government to issuean ordinance. The pre-conditions for the issuance of an ordinance are:

a) Both houses of Parliament are not in Session
b) Circumstances exist which necessitate for taking of immediate action.

The following facts are clear:

• The Budget session is the longest session with a mid session recess.
• This recess and the holding of the session after the session had already been re-scheduled
• The fresh schedule had already been circulated w.e.f. 10.5.06
• A large part of both government and non-government business remains to be transacted

In the present case both the prerequisites for issuance of an ordnance areabsent.

• The parliament was in session. A bill if any could be introduced in the Parliament. Adjournment sine die of a session in order to enable the issuance of an ordnance is a fraud on power
  
  
• There can be no urgency in the matter of amending an Act, which seeks to exempt, public offices as not being offices of profit. There can be no constitutional urgency in the matter of saving an individual from disqualification.

The political ramifications of this action are significant.

• The government has panicked. Its crisis management has proved to be pathetic.
  
  
• The facade of 'sacrifice" and 'detachment from office' image of the Congress President stands exposed. To stick to an office of a Member of Parliament, she can go to the extent of subverting both the parliament and the constitution in order to have the law retrospectively changed through the ordnance route.
  
  
• The Congress has kept up its tradition of making the parliament and the constitution subservient to the Gandhi family.

The law was retrospectively changed to save Mrs. Indira Gandhi's membershipof the Lok Sabha. The law is being now retrospectively changed to save the LokSabha membership of Mrs. Sonia Gandhi.

The BJP believes that there exist no circumstances for the issuance of anordnance. The nation hopes that the President would rise to the occasion andrefuse to grant accent to this ordnance.

It is now being reported that a government in panic and party in panic areattempting to even resort to an afterthought retraction. If they did that thenquestion still would be: Why was the Parliament adjourned sine die?

No amount of those political heroics of the kind, which we saw in May 2004, willsave the government from the situation in which it has landed itself.