The presiding officers of both Houses of the Parliament are the custodians of the prestige of their respective units and the rights of its members. They are vested with the powers to ensure that MPs are able to use the floor as a platform for meaningful debate just so that the process of effective legislation takes place. Democratic practice demands the Chair be careful that the Opposition voice is not lost in the Treasury’s loud majority.
Yet the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, unfortunately, has begun acting as if he is the ultimate arbiter of whatever is spoken of late. His partisan attitude seeks to smother this voice through the hurling of abuse at Opposition leaders even as he keeps a blind eye turned to the trespasses of the Treasury benches, and it will surely end up lowering the dignity of his office, and of the House itself. Mr Jagdeep Dhankhar has fired his latest salvo against Congress leader and Rajya Sabha member P.
Chidambaram who criticised the new criminal laws as having been “drafted by part-timers”. This, according to him, has been “an inexcusable insult to the wisdom of Parliament”. It may be remembered that Union home minister Amit Shah, while defending these three laws last week, said he and the government were open to constructive criticism, and if required, changes in the laws would be incorporated.
Which goes to show that there is insufficient parliamentary oversight to the law-making process. And that’s no surprise, for as per Mr Shah’s ow.
