The Hindu : 'Parliament should have discussed report of statute review panel'

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Sunday, Mar 16, 2003

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'Parliament should have discussed report of statute review panel'

By Our Special Correspondent

The former Chief Justice of India, M.N. Venkatachalaiah (right), speaking to Soli J. Sorabjee, Attorney-General of India, at a seminar on ``Contempt power and the rule of law'' in Bangalore on Saturday. — Photo: K. Gopinathan

BANGALORE MARCH 15. The Attorney General of India, Soli J. Sorabjee, is resentful that the report of the National Commission for the Review of the Working of the Constitution has not been discussed in Parliament though it was submitted to the Union Government nearly a year ago.

``It is a shame that Parliament does not think it is important enough to discuss the report,'' Mr. Sorabjee, who was a member of the Commission, which was headed by the former Chief Justice of India, M.N. Venkatachalaiah, said here today. (The report was submitted on March 31, 2002.)

Sharing his views with presspersons on dealing with "devious'' judges, he said: "It is all discussed in the report, but nobody has the time to go through it.'' The Union Minister for Law, Justice, Commerce, and Industry, Arun Jaitely, had shown interest in tabling the report in Parliament last year, during his first stint as the Law Minister. But the issue was sidelined when the petrol bunk scam broke out, he added.

He declined to comment on the "Mysore episode", as the issue was pending before court.

Mr. Sorabjee said the report contained rich material on various issues. "The present impeachment proceedings against the judges are completely cumbersome, time-consuming, and they have not worked... We need an effective mechanism to discipline devious judges,'' he added.

Earlier, speaking at a seminar on "Contempt power and the rule of law'' organised by the Karnataka Section of the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), he said the freedom of the press was not confined only to editors and reporters, but it also extended to readers. The media and the judiciary had a "love-hate relationship,'' he added.

Inaugurating the seminar, Mr. Justice Venkatachalaiah said the theme of the seminar was perhaps susceptible to an implication that the rule of law and contempt of court were in some way incompatible with each other, or even antagonistic. It was necessary to dispel this possible misconception, he added.

He said issues such as democracy, evolution of international human rights, the tremendous advances of science and technology, and their impact on the global economic order were confronting the judiciary with their immediate implications.

Mr. Justice Venkatachaliah, said that in recent years, the judiciary had become a little more impatient due to the large number of cases pending before courts. Nearly 1,000 cases came up before the Supreme Court every week.

The judicial approach to settling cases required a second look, he added.

On the freedom of the press, he said it was the right of the public to be informed. "But when it comes to a question of comment on courts and the pending judicial proceedings, the voice of the press has become shriller than is perhaps good for the health of both institutions — the judiciary and the press,'' he said.

C.R. Irani, Editor-in-Chief, The Statesman, said that most journalists were not truly professional. Some editors and reporters wrote fabricated articles to fulfil personal agenda, he added.

A.N. Jayaram, president, Karnataka Section of the ICJ, welcomed the gathering.

The former Chief Justice of the erstwhile Mysore High Court, Nittoor Srinivas Rao, judges of the Karnataka High Court, and lawyers were present.

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