`No meddling with statute'

By J. Venkatesan

NEW DELHI, JAN. 31. Stung by the President's criticism of attempts at tinkering with the Constitution, the chairman of the statute review panel, Mr. Justice M.N. Venkatachalaiah, today reassured him that nothing would be done to undermine his authority or the parliamentary form of democracy.

Briefing presspersons at the end of the sixth full meeting of the Commission, Mr. Justice Venkatachalaiah said, ``It shall be our respectful reassurance to the President that no recommendation which will undermine the democratic process will be permitted by the Commission''. The chairman, who was reacting to the President's Republic Day-eve address, also made it clear ``there is no question of meddling or tinkering with the basic structure of the Constitution or to undermine the authority of the President''.

He said ``as the preserver, protector and defender of the Constitution, the President is entitled to express his views. We have the highest respect for the President. We take note of his sentiments and observations and there is no question of any debate on this issue by the Commission''.

On providing a fixed term of five years to Parliament and State legislatures, Mr. Justice Venkatachalaiah said ``no such suggestion has been given in the consultation paper on election law''. On the contrary, what had been stated was that providing a fixed term could not be considered legitimate.

Quoting the paper, he said ``if a leadership is performing poorly and/or making grievous errors, deliberate or compulsive, in running of the nation, or even when it fails to provide the basics of governance, it cannot be allowed to continue for any fixed term''. He said, ``I am of the view that such a concept will negate democratic principles and will be inconsistent with the democratic processes''.

Asked whether the views of the Prime Minister on having a fixed term would be discussed, he said ``all the viewpoints, including the efficacy of the Gandhian model, would be deliberated upon before the final recommendations are made''.

Mr. Justice Venkatachalaiah agreed that the suggestions in the consultation papers by implication got legitimacy as they were released by the Commission. But he made it clear that they were not its final recommendations.

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