Christian Divorce Bill in next session

By Our Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, APRIL 2. The Union Minister for Law, Mr. Ram Jethmalani, has said that the Christian Divorce Bill will be introduced in Parliament during its next session.

At a Meet-the-Press programme organised by the Press Club here today, the Minister said he had waited to know the opinion of the Christian community on the bill. A delegation representing various Churches had met him and informed that they were happy with the provisions.

Cross-voting in RS polls

The Minister said that open balloting should be introduced in the elections to Rajya Sabha.Describing this as his personal view, the Minister said that he did not see any reason why voting by the elected representatives should be secret. Unlike in the case of the general public, the legislators were not people who could be intimidated. However, the Government had not formed any opinion on the matter, he said.

Mr. Jethmalani said that considerable money power had been used in the last few elections to the Rajya Sabha. This had destroyed party discipline.

The Minister said the opening up of the legal profession to international competition was inevitable. The GATT agreement, signed by India, had references to services which included legal services. He said the working paper prepared by the Law Commission on how to go about with it would be put up for national debate shortly. It was really painful that members of the respectable profession of the lawyers had taken up the cudgels against him, claiming that the Government had amended the Advocates Act. All that had happened so far was the drawing up of the working paper by the Commission, he said.

Mr. Jethmalani said the lawyers had objected to only three of the 50 amendments made to the Criminal Procedure Code. He had expressed willingness to discuss them with their representatives. However, they had not yet turned up for discussions. He was committed to speeding up the justice system. If he failed to do so in two years, he would quit as Minister of Law. About three crore cases were pending before the subordinate courts and 32 lakhs before the High Courts, he said.

The Minister said shortage of judges were not the prime reason for judicial delays. It was the procedure. There were, however, financial problems in setting up new courts. Long procedures delayed appointment of judges.

He said the proposed Freedom of Information Bill was an advanced piece of legislation that was better than the American law on the subject. Once the Bill becomes a law, all operations of the government would become transparent. Every department in Government would be required to set up information offices to provide information to the public. Refusal of information sought would be an exception. The provisions of the Official Secrets Act would stand repealed to the extent it was inconsistent with the new law.

The Minister reiterated that there was no sinister intention of any kind behind the proposal to review the Constitution. Some were misunderstanding the proposal by accident while some others were determined to misunderstand it. The intellectuals criticising the proposal should wait till the committee submits its report.He said the committee was appointed because the socio- economic objectives of the Constitution were not realised even after 50 years. The choice of the retired Supreme Court Judge, Mr. V.R. Krishna Iyer, to head the sub-committee on fundamental rights itself was an assurance that the Government had nothing else in mind.

Recalling that he was a student of Dr. Ambedkar, Mr. Jethmalani said he regarded the Constitution as scripture of the Republic. He held it higher than religious scriptures. However, as it was a handiwork of human beings, there was bound to be mistakes. Those who were speaking about the sanctity of the Constitution were people who had amended the Constitution as many as 79 times.The Minister said he was not satisfied with the standards maintained by law colleges. However, heroic efforts were being made to improve their functioning. The National Institute of Law at Bangalore was achieving a status similar to that of Harvard.

He said funds and land stood in the way of setting up National Schools of Law in Thiruvananthapuram and other places. There was no political problem regarding that. But finding good teachers was a problem.

He said he would be completing the formalities for setting up a High Court bench in Thiruvananthapuram once the opinions of the Kerala High Court and the Governor are received. One of those opinions was yet to be received.

Asked about corruption in judiciary, Mr. Jethmalani said it was a reflection of the condition of the society and its failings. Whatever be the degree of screening done, some would escape through the sieve. It would be late when their real character is discovered.

He said that judicial activism had done some good. However, like every good thing, it was subject to abuse.

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