The Hindu : Poll reforms ordinance sent back to President

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Aug 25, 2002

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Poll reforms ordinance sent back to President

By Harish Khare

New Delhi Aug. 24. Invoking the consensus among political parties on the approach to electoral reforms, the Union Cabinet today sent back "as it is'' to the President, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, the ordinance on electoral reforms, which he had returned to the Cabinet three days ago. No clarification has been offered to Dr. Kalam as sought by him. The ordinance is meant to operationalise the proposed Representation of the People (Amendment) Bill, 2002 (to amend the Representation of the People Act, 1951) which could not be voted upon by Parliament during the last session.

As per the Constitution, the President has no option but to sign the ordinance, though the 42nd amendment does leave enough leeway for him "to sit on it'' if he were so inclined. However, late night it was learnt that the President had signed the ordinance.

The National Democratic Alliance establishment was clearly taken aback by Dr. Kalam's decision to ask from the Cabinet a few clarifications on the ordinance. It was felt that at this early stage of his presidential innings, the Rashtrapati Bhavan needed to be disabused of any ideas on presidential activism.

The Union Cabinet that met today to consider the President's request for clarification had the benefit of the Attorney-General, Soli Sorabjee's advice. Mr. Sorabjee had earlier in the day met Dr. Kalam and conveyed to him "the high regard the Cabinet had for him.''

The mood in the Cabinet was that on the constitutional front, no impression should be created as if the President and the Prime Minister's Council of Ministers were on a collision course; politically, it was felt that the Government need not pull its punches as it had the backing of the entire political class on how and at what rate the process of decriminalisation of the electoral process was to be accomplished. Hence, the "as it is'' formulation on sending the ordinance back to the President.

An official spokesperson explained the rationale for the Cabinet decision: "Considering the total political consensus on which the bill to amend the Representation of the People Act, 1951, was drafted and the ordinance being an exact replica of the bill, the Cabinet today decided to request the President to give assent to the promulgation of the ordinance in its present form under Article 123.''

The NDA Government, in fact, got unstinted support in its incipient stand-off with the Rashtrapati Bhavan, from an unexpected quarter: Mulayam Singh Yadav, president of the Samajwadi Party.

Mr. Yadav, who had lobbied hard for Dr. Kalam's presidential candidature, today read out to him a "virtual lesson" in constitutional niceties.

In a suo motu statement, Mr. Yadav said: "The President's decision to send back to the Union Cabinet for reconsideration the ordinance on electoral reforms is a matter of concern. Not to give presidential assent on a matter on which the country's political parties were unanimous, was against the basic spirit of the Constitution. According to the Indian Constitution, only under extraordinary circumstances could the President return for reconsideration an ordinance.

It is against the dignity of the President's office and against the soul of the Constitution for a President to return an ordinance for reconsideration on the basis of incomplete information and on the advice of so-called intellectuals who have no understanding of practical functioning of Indian politics. In future, the President better be mindful of the constitutional traditions before embarking on such steps.''

Mr. Yadav's disapproving reference was to the reports that suggested that Dr. Kalam made up his mind on seeking clarifications after receiving a delegation of eminent citizens, who had been campaigning for electoral reforms and had urged him to withhold his consent.

In fact, the President today also, heard from Jayaprakash Narayan, national coordinator for the "National Campaign for Election Reforms.'' Mr. Narayan once again exhorted the President to explore the limits of presidential authority. According to him, since the ordinance was violative of the Supreme Court judgment of May 2, 2002, the President should seek the opinion of the apex court under Article 143, "should the ordinance be resubmitted to you without providing for full disclosures.''

While there are differences among legal experts on the constitutional validity of the proposed ordinance, the political parties have closed ranks in order to slow down the cleansing process.

Nonetheless, Dr. Kalam has served notice on the political establishment that he would not be taken for granted.

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