The Vasundhara Raje government on Monday tabled Criminal Laws (Rajasthan Amendment) Bill in the assembly, facing severe opposition from the Congress, the house was later adjourned for the day.
The Raje government had recently passed an ordinance that no more allows the courts from taking up private complaints against both serving and former judges, magistrates and public servants in the state for on-duty action without prior sanction from the government. The ordinance also bars the media from naming any judge or public servant being investigated or reporting the accusations until prior permission from the government.
This ordinance amends the Criminal Code of Procedure, 1973.
As expected the ordinance is facing a lot of criticism and building controversies. While on one hand, the BJP government is citing reasons to prove that the decision is not wrong and that the government maintains a zero tolerance against corruption. In a statement issued by the Raje government on Sunday, it said that there was no provision in the ordinance to protect the corrupt officers.
Congress along with the editor’s guild is strongly opposing the bill. While the amendment of the Criminal Laws 1973 was presented in the assembly today, Senior Lawyer AK Jain, filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Rajasthan High Court challenging the validity of the Criminal Laws (Rajasthan Amendment) Ordinance promulgated by the Rajasthan government. The plea read that the ordinance was a ‘licence to commit a crime and that it was arbitrary and malafide.
Rajasthan Congress unit President Sachin Pilot on Sunday criticised the ordinance saying that “it is shocking how the Raje government is trying to institutionalise corruption. It shows the mindset. They are not willing to stand up against corruption.” He had also said that Congress will move to court against the BJP and stage dharnas on Monday, taking the protest to the streets.
Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi also aking a dig at Vasundhara Raje tweeted “Madam Chief Minister, with all humility we are in the 21st century. It’s 2017, not 1817”
Madam Chief Minister, with all humility we are in the 21'st century. It's 2017, not 1817. https://t.co/ezPfca2NPS
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) October 22, 2017
Not just the political parties but also the legal experts have questioned the ordinance passed by the Rajasthan government. Constitutional expert Shanti Bhushan said, “It is highly improper and should be quashed. What it means is politicians want to do corruption and do not want to be investigated.”Another expert Jurist and former Attorney General Soli Sorabjee said the “constitutionality of the ordinance was very doubtful.”
Retired Law Commission Chairman Justice A P Shah said that he was not sure of the ordinance could be applied to judges of the higher judiciary as the Supreme Court has already laid rules for it. He further added that it is already stated that, to proceed against a magistrate, the investigative agency has to take permission from the Chief Justice of the state high court because the judge’s position is very different. “If this provision is not kept into account the magistrates would be exposed to all sorts of complaints, so what exactly is the motive behind the ordinance passed by the Rajasthan government is not clear,” he added.
Giving an example to support his argument, AP Shah said, “In the K Veeraswami vs Union of India judgment of 1991, the Supreme Court has already laid down that complaint against a judge of a high court or Supreme Court cannot be made without the permission of the Chief Justice of the HC or the Chief Justice of India.”
Regarding the restrictions that the ordinance has put on the media, Shah said that “There is no such bar (on reporting against such officials) in the Veeraswami judgment. So it will have to be tested. This is a restriction on the free speech and expression. So whether it is reasonable…will have to be examined in the context of Article 19(2) (which imposes reasonable restrictions on the fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression). He added that it might also lead to conflicts with Lokpal and Lokayukta Act.”
Senior counsel Dushyant Dave, opposing the ordinance said that it not only limit the rights of the media but also prevents the people to fight against corruption.
The controversies and opposition to the amendment made by the Rajasthan government in the Criminal law 1973 are not just restricted to the political parties and legal experts, but also the editor’s guild has opposed the ordinance.
A statement signed by the Guild president Raj Chengappa, general secretary Prakash Dubey and treasurer Kalyani Shankar read that “(It) was ostensibly done to protect the judiciary and the bureaucracy against false FIRs. But in reality, it is a pernicious instrument to harass the media, hide wrongful acts by government servants and drastically curb the freedom of the press guaranteed by the Constitution of India. The Editors Guild wants the Rajasthan Government to immediately withdraw the ordinance and desist from making it into law.”
The statement, strongly arguing against the ordinance also read that according to the guild the amendment being made in the criminal law not only limits the rights of the media but also gives the liberty to the government to even imprison journalists for reporting matters of public interest.
Even the some of the member of the BJP Rajasthan government seems to be going against the decision of the passing the ordinance. BJP MLA Ghanshyam Tiwari, on Sunday wrote a letter to Rajasthan Home Minister, Gulab Chand Kataria, expressing his opposition. The letter read that “Please consider this a political protest. Through this letter, I would like to resist the Bill which you, as the Home Minister, will present in the Assembly in the next few days. You will be making a law which will shield those openly indulging in corruption chief minister, ministers and officials.”
Amid all the opposition and criticism, the Raje government is firm on getting the bill passed in the assembly. Trying to defend the decision of the government, Kataria gave his own example, how he had to face the atrocities when he was wrongly charged with murdering Sohrabuddin Sheikh.
“What happened with me in Sohrabuddin case; I was named in the case and all o the country’s media surrounded me as if I had killed Sohrabuddin. But what eventually came out was that there was no evidence (against me). But the kind of media trial I faced, and I faced the courts too,” he said.
The CBI in April 2014 had filed a murder and conspiracy charges against Kataria and three others in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter case 2005. He further added that the main reason to bring this ordinance was that “Rajasthan is among the top states (where a case is filed under the said section) for the past several years. If you take a look at National Crime Report Bureau statistics, some 36% cases (in Rajasthan) come under 156 (3).”
Further giving data to support his argument he said that “a Final Report was filed in 70-75% cases. As per official figures, 2,47,756 cases were filed under CrPC section 156 (3), between 2013 and June 2017 in Rajasthan. The government said that out of these, a Final Report stating that the incident did not occur was filed in 1,76,254 cases, while a challan was filed only in 60,740 cases — wrong address, lack of evidence, the case pending, etc. account for the remaining cases.”
He further added that lots of time and the police force is wasted in investigating the false cases and hence the ordinance was necessary. Referring to the limitation thrust on the media, he said that media plays a major role in building the mindset of the people and affecting the morale of the public servant.