Review panel by weekend?

By Harish Khare

NEW DELHI, FEB. 7. The Vajpayee government is likely to announce the names of the Constitution `review' panel later this week. The names would be finalised after consultation with the designated Chairman, Mr. Justice M.N. Venkatachaliah, the former Chief Justice of India, who is expected to come here this week.

It is learnt that despite strong opposition from the Law Minister, Mr. Ram Jethmalani, the Prime Minister has approved the inclusion in the panel of the current Attorney-General, Mr. Soli Sorabjee. Mr. Vajpayee has already approved the idea of having a few former attorneys-general in the panel; now, it seems, Mr. Sorabjee will also be a panel member. Mr. Sorabjee is widely respected, at home and abroad, as a champion of civil liberties and judicial independence and integrity.

Another name under consideration seems to be that of Mr. Anil Diwan, a leading lawyer, who has been appointed amicus curiae in a number of cases in the Supreme Court. At the same time, there appears to be some reconsideration about having Dr. Subash Kashyap, a former secretary-general of the Lok Sabha, as the member-secretary of the panel; as a constitutional expert, Dr. Kashyap is considered by many to be a light-weight and as someone who will not pass the ``Venkatachaliah yardstick''.

The search is on for a `political' name who would invoke no partisan response. For a while the government toyed with the idea of including Mr. P.A. Sangma, the former Speaker of the Lok Sabha and a leading figure in Mr. Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party; however, since Mr. Sangma is also the most vociferous critic of Mrs. Sonia Gandhi's suitability to be the Prime Minister in this country, the possible hostile reaction from the Congress(I) to his name has led to a reconsideration.

In his number of public utterances, Justice Venkatachaliah has already indicated his preference for a non- partisan, broad-based panel. Given the controversy that the idea of review panel has evoked, the government is reconciled to having as credible a commission as possible. Justice Venkatachaliah's argument is quite acceptable that if the Commission is not to get overwhelmed with controversy it must have constitutional experts of eminence and stature.

Interestingly enough the government finds itself subject to organised pressure on behalf of this or that `expert'. Today the Prime Minister's Office received a petition in behalf of `those rooted in the soil of the nation'; translated in plane English, the plea is to have someone with `rural background'. The petition is signed by pro-government personalities, among others, like Professor M.L. Sondhi, recently appointed as chairman of the Indian Council of Social Science Research, Mr. Sahib Singh Verma, former chief minister of Delhi, and Mr. Virender Verma, a former governor of Punjab and Himachal Pradesh. In the next few days there will be more similar claims and counter-claims.

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