All-party meet backs govt to overturn SC verdict

In the all-party meeting on Tuesday, the government got support from political parties on its plans to amend the Representation of People Act to overturn the Supreme Court ruling, which barred people in police or judicial custody from contesting polls.

It also received backing on its proposal to bring an amendment to the Constitution to negate the impact of the apex court verdict directing immediate disqualification of MPs and MLAs on being sentenced for more than two years in a criminal case.

These were among four issues that were discussed in the meeting convened by the government to firm up a view on contentious issues.

The proposed Judicial Appointments Commission Bill, which seeks to replace the collegium system, the Supreme Court order on reservation in AIIMS faculty and the Patna High Court order barring a candidate arrested even for a day from contesting were the other issues.

Parties suggested that the Judicial Appointments Commission Bill should be referred to a Parliamentary Standing Committee.

The issue of Robert Vadra's controversial land deals in Haryana was also raised by Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj. The Left parties maintained that the government should not have objections if any issue was raised.

The opposition parties felt that the responsibility for running the House was primarily that of the government. Swaraj asked why the opposition was not being allowed to raise the Vadra issue in Parliament. "Allow us to speak on the issue," she said.

Left parties accused Congress and BJP of "match fixing" and disrupting the House proceedings to prevent real issues afflicting the people from being raised.

"We discussed the SC judgement on AIIMS. We talked about judicial commission and various court pronouncements. There is consensus among all political parties for effective steps to ensure supremacy of Parliament.

"There is also consensus on the bills on reservation in AIIMS. All parties demanded amendment in the Representation of the People Act. All political parties want judicial commission bill should be introduced in this session," Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath, who chaired the meeting, told reporters.

Swaraj said all parties were in agreement on filing a review on the reservation issue. "Another issue was about the judgement. Suppose you are in police custody even for a day, then you do not have a right to vote nor you can file nomination for election.

"The government said that they want to amend the Represenation of People Act to undo this. BJP supported this because I said the judiciary of this country allowed Italian marines, who are accused in the murder case of fishermen, to vote in Italy but the same judiciary did not allow a person who is convicted even for a day here. He has no right to vote. This is wrong," she added.

She also said that this was the reason the government wants to bring an amendment in this Act and "all parties are for it."

"Third one is disqualification. That if one gets convicted for two years then he will forego his membership. The government has put forward four conditions before us. We want it to be referrd to the Standing Committee," she said.

The BJP leader said while her party supports the setting up of Judicial Appointments Commission issue in principle, the government wants the Bill to be passed without sending it to the Standing Committee.

Accusing Congress and BJP of match-fixing, CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury said, "Only if these two parties want, the House functions. If they don't, the House proceedings are disrupted.

"We have been experiencing this again and again. We cannot accept this sort of disruption. It is the government's responsibility to make the House run and allow people's issues to be raised," he said, adding that this was raised at the meeting by the Left parties, which were supported by other parties like BSP and Samajwadi Party.

"Today the ruling party played a more important role in Lok Sabha in disrupting the House. The government has to show political will if it wants the House to function," he said.

Yechury and Gurudas Dasgupta (CPI) said issues like massive hike in prices of onions and other items, declining rupee value, falling rate of GDP growth and investment, growing unemployment "cannot be raised and neither can the issues pertaining to corruption by individuals or corporates."