PRANAB CAUTIONS GOVT AGAINST USING ORDINANCE ROUTE
President Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday cautioned the government against using the Ordinance route to bring in a law, saying it should be used only in a compelling situation and not taken recourse to in monetary matters. At a farewell function in Parliament, he told the Opposition not to disrupt proceedings in the two Houses, as it took away from it the opportunity to raise people’s concerns. “I am of the firm opinion that the Ordinance route should be used only in compelling circumstances,” he said.
President Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday cautioned the government against using the ordinance route to bring in a law, saying it should be used only in a compelling situation and not taken recourse to in monetary matters.
At a farewell function in Parliament, he also told the Opposition not to disrupt proceedings in the Houses as it took away from it the opportunity to raise people’s concerns.
“I am of the firm opinion that the ordinance route should be used only in compelling circumstances and there should be no recourse to ordinances on monetary matters,” he said.
The hour-long function was attended by Vice-President Hamid Ansari, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, former prime ministers Manmohan Singh and H D Deve Gowda, Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, Union ministers, besides political leaders and members of Parliament.
Eighty-one-year-old Mukherjee said the ordinance route should not be taken on matters which are being considered or have been introduced in Parliament or pending before a House committee. “If a matter is deemed urgent, the committee concerned should be made aware of the situation and should be mandated to present its report within a stipulated time,” he said.
Mukherjee also expressed concern over the declining amount of time spent in lawmaking, saying Parliament should adequately scrutinise and debate laws before they are enacted. “It is unfortunate that the parliamentary time devoted to legislation has been declining.” Mukherjee said, adding with the heightened complexity of administration, legislation must be preceded by scrutiny and adequate discussion. “Scrutiny in committees is no substitute to open discussion on the floor of the House. When the Parliament fails to discharge its lawmaking role or enacts laws without discussion, I feel it breaches the trust reposed in it by the people of this great country.”
The President’s remarks bear significance as after repeatedly failing to amend the Enemy Property Act, 1968, in the past three years, the Modi government had promulgated five ordinances. The Bill was passed by Parliament in March. Senior Union ministers were reportedly deputed to convince the President to sign the fourth and fifth enemy property ordinances as he was against promulgating them.
Mukherjee said he was “greatly benefited” from the advice and cooperation extended by Modi at “every step”.
“With passion and energy, he (Modi) is driving transformational changes in the country. I will carry fond memories of our association and his warm and courteous behaviour.”
The outgoing President, who will demit office on Tuesday, said he was “mentored” by late prime minister Indira Gandhi whose “steely determination, clarity of thought and decisive action made her a towering personality”.
He said she never hesitated to call a spade a spade.
Mukherjee recalled during a visit to London with Gandhi after the Emergency, she had told journalists, “In those 21 months, we comprehensively managed to alienate all sections of Indian people.” Recalling his days as a member of Parliament which he entered in 1969 as Rajya Sabha member, Mukherjee said by listening to stalwarts in the Treasury and Opposition benches, he understood the real value of debate, discussion and dissent.