Ministerial tenure: 'No move to seek review of SC order'

NEW DELHI, AUG. 23. The Government has no intention of seeking a review of the recent Supreme Court interpretation restricting the Ministerial tenure of non-elected members to just six months, the Law Minister, Mr. Arun Jaitley, said in the Lok Sabha today. Replying to a supplementary by Mr.S. Kanti Singh during question hour, he said the Government did not have any plans to amend the relevant Constitutional provision (to nullify the interpretation).

Mr. Jaitley brushed aside the RJD member, Mr. Raghuvansh Prasad Singh's charge that the Government was using the Supreme Court's observations to twist the appointment of the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu by the previous State Governor by saying that the two issues were unconnected.

The Lok Sabha Speaker, Mr. G.M.C. Balayogi, cautioned the members not to bring in the names of persons concerned as they were not members of the House. When Mr. Varkala Radhakrishnan (CPI-M) pointed out that the Returning Officers had taken different views on the nominations to the State Assemblies of the present Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and a Kerala Minister, Mr. Jaitley said the latter was benefitted by the provision 8-(4) of the Representation of the People Act and was allowed to contest.

When the former Speaker, Mr. Shivraj Patil, said that the latest interpretation by the Supreme Court could mar the chances of holding the Ministerial office by a chargesheeted person if the (lower) court did not decide the case in six months, Mr. Jaitley suggested that the House debate the larger issues involved, namely, in probity in public life and people's mandate.

Mr. Jaitley welcomed the Congress chief whip, Mr. P.R. Dasmunshi's offer to support the Government in bringing amendments that reinforced public probity in the Representation of the People Act.

- UNI

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : National
Previous : BJP faces flak from Opposition
Next     : Yaseen Malik seeks permission to go abroad