‘Courts portray politicians as criminals’
Union law and justice minister Kapil Sibal told the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday that courts are “enthusiastic” to portray politicians as criminals and asked the judiciary to be “extremely careful” while delivering judgments which have an impact on the polity of the country.
The comments came while the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday “unanimously passed” a bill negating a Supreme Court verdict banning those in jail and police custody from contesting elections.
“There is a general negative perception in the country that all politicians are criminals. Courts are enthusiastic to prove us so, even if we are not so,” the law minister said while moving the Representation of the People (Amendment and Validation) Bill, 2013.
“The political class is the most accountable class in the country. Politicians are accountable to Parliament, to the Election Commission, to the country, to the people, to whom we go every after five years. We are the most accountable set of people in the country,” Mr Sibal said in his reply after a discussion on the bill. “It is we who have passed the law to make us accountable. It is us who have decided to disclose our assets,” he said. Mr Sibal said the apex court’s order might perhaps not have come had the “environment” been different.
Making an intervention on the issue, Leader of the Opposition Arun Jaitley said the Supreme Court order empowered a policeman to decide the fate of those seeking to contest elections. “The police became the final arbitrator that who can contest and who can not? Are we going to risk the democracy to the police?” Mr Jaitley asked.
The Representation of the People (Amendment and Validation) Bill, 2013, provides for two changes in the Act of 1951 which were approved by the Union Cabinet last week.
The amendments to the RPA shall come into effect from July 10, 2013, the day the Supreme Court gave the judgement barring those in jail from contesting.
Post new comment